Wagner's husband was a Las Vegas police officer. Erin's survivors brought both a state law wrongful death action and a separate section 1983 action in Nevada state court. The section 1983 action alleged that Wagner and several Las Vegas and Nevada police officers conspired to cover up the facts of the accident by not testing Wagner's sobriety, by allowing Wagner to leave the scene, and by failing to preserve physical evidence. Defendants removed the section 1983 action to the federal district court, which dismissed it with prejudice. The Ninth Circuit reversed.
Litigants have a fundamental constitutional right of meaningful access to the courts.
That right is infringed by pre-filing conduct that effectively covers up evidence and renders any state court remedies ineffective. In light of that right, the district court should have dismissed the section 1983 action without prejudice. That would allow the Delews to refile it if defendants' conduct rendered their state wrongful death action ineffective. Not every state court litigant may invoke the right delineated by the Ninth Circuit. To state a section 1983 claim, plaintiff must name at least one participant in the conspiracy who has acted under color of state law.