Opinion ID: 1294450
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Federal Statutory Claims

Text: The classes do not have a viable claim under § 1983 because their constitutional rights have not been violated. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2004) (Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.... (Emphasis added.)). In addition, because the equal protection claim raised by the classes is meritless, their § 1981 claim must also fail. Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 343, 123 S.Ct. 2325, 2347, 156 L.Ed.2d 304, 342 (2003) (citing Gen. Building Contractors Ass'n, Inc. v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375, 389-91, 102 S.Ct. 3141, 3149-50, 73 L.Ed.2d 835, 848-49 (1982) (the prohibition against discrimination in § 1981 is co-extensive with the Equal Protection Clause)). Finally, 18 U.S.C. § 242 is a criminal statute, under which there is no private right of action. Rockefeller v. U.S. Ct. of Appeals Office, for Tenth Circuit Judges, 248 F.Supp.2d 17, 23 (D.D.C.2003) (citing cases).