Opinion ID: 548763
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nature of Price's claim

Text: 15 The right Price claims is indeed federal; thus, he has not failed to meet this requirement of Sec. 1983. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983; Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 536, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1913, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981) (Sec. 1983 plaintiff must allege deprivation of federal, not state, right). In Keaukaha II, we held that the right asserted by the plaintiffs was federal because it was specifically protected by an Act of Congress, the Admission Act, Sec. 5(f). 739 F.2d at 1472. The Sec. 5(f) trust obligation, we said, was rooted in federal law. Id. Moreover, we recently have characterized Keaukaha II as holding that Sec. 5(f) of the Admission Act creates a federal 'right' enforceable under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Price, 764 F.2d at 628; see also Ulaleo v. Paty, 902 F.2d 1395, 1397 (9th Cir.1990). The source of the right Price asserts here is precisely the same as the source of the right claimed in Keaukaha II, namely Sec. 5(f) of the Admission Act. Hence, the right Price asserts also is federal, and Sec. 1983 is available.