Opinion ID: 614593
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Officer Fangio.

Text: The district court granted JMOL to Officer Fangio on Mr. Henry's racial-profiling claim. Aplt.App. 339-40. In that claim, Mr. Henry alleged that Officer Storey ran his license plateswhich eventually led to Mr. Henry being pulled oversolely because of his race. See Aplt. Br. 15 ([Mr. Henry's] claims under the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. . . allege that Defendants racially profiled him because he is Black by deciding to `run' the license plate of his rental car . . . .). Mr. Henry's argument rests on a premise the evidence does not support: that Officer Fangio was somehow involved in Officer Storey's decision to run Mr. Henry's license plates. To the contrary, the record supports only the conclusion that Officer Storey made the decision to run Mr. Henry's plates. See Aplt.App. 169-70. Accordingly, no reasonable jury could conclude that Officer Fangio racially profiled Mr. Henry by deciding to run his license plates based on his race. Mr. Henry argues that Officer Fangio could have been liable for racial profiling because she eventually participated in Mr. Henry's detention. Aplt. Br. 19. But § 1983 imposes liability for a defendant's own actionspersonal participation in the specific constitutional violation complained of is essential. See, e.g., Foote v. Spiegel, 118 F.3d 1416, 1423-24 (10th Cir.1997) (Individual liability under § 1983 must be based on personal involvement in the alleged constitutional violation. (citation omitted)); Trujillo v. Williams, 465 F.3d 1210, 1228 (10th Cir.2006) (In order for liability to arise under § 1983, a defendant's direct personal responsibility for the claimed deprivation . . . must be established. (emphasis added) (citation omitted)). Thus, Officer Storey's allegedly discriminatory decision to check the license plate on Mr. Henry's rental vehicle cannot result in liability for Officer Fangio, where there is no evidence that Officer Fangio herself engaged in discriminatory conduct. [2]