Opinion ID: 765383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statute and the Issues

Text: 155 Section 242, Title 18, United States Code, in pertinent part, provides: 156 Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens,[shall be subject to specified criminal penalties]. 157 Specifically stated, the issues of concern are: (1) whether 18 U.S.C. 242, the constitutional provisions it incorporates, and the federal court decisions interpreting them, gave fair warning to the defendant, Len Davis, that a state officer who, while acting under color of law, intentionally and without justification causes a person to be deprived of her right to life, violates a right that had been made specific either by the express terms of the Constitution or laws of the United States, or by decisions interpreting them; (2) whether the defendant police officer, Len Davis, also was given fair warning by the statute, its incorporated constitutional provisions, and decisions interpreting them, that his course of conduct in causing Kim Marie Groves to be deprived of her right to life amounted to acts under color of law; and (3) whether the private person defendants, Paul Hardy and Damon Causey, were given fair warning that Len Davis was a state official acting under color of law when he caused Kim MarieGroves to be deprived of her right to life, and that their intentional participation with Davis in that homicide would therefore also constitute acts under color of law in violation of Kim Marie Groves's constitutional right to life that had been made specific by 18 U.S.C. 242, its incorporated constitutional and statutory provisions, and the federal court decisions interpreting them.