Opinion ID: 564833
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did tackett act under color of state law?

Text: 6 The initial inquiry in an action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 focuses on two essential elements: (1) was the defendant official acting under color of state law? and (2) did the official's conduct deprive the plaintiff of a right secured by the Constitution or federal statute? See Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1912, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981), (overruled in part on other grounds, Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 106 S.Ct. 662, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986)). We consider these questions in turn. 7 A public official has acted under color of state law when he has exercised power 'possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law.'  West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 49, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 2255, 101 L.Ed.2d 40 (1988) (quoting United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326, 61 S.Ct. 1031, 1043, 85 L.Ed. 1368 (1941)). It is firmly established that a defendant in a Sec. 1983 suit acts under color of state law when he abuses the position given to him by the State. West, 487 U.S. at 49-50, 108 S.Ct. at 2255-56 (citing Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 172, 81 S.Ct. 473, 476, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961)). 2 Thus, before a defendant may be held liable under section 1983, that defendant must first possess power by virtue of state law, then misuse that power in a way that violates federal constitutional rights. Christian v. Belcher, 888 F.2d 410, 414 (6th Cir.1989) (emphasis in original). 8 Our Circuit has held that an off-duty police officer's use of his gun could be action under the color of state law because he had authority under state law to carry the gun only by virtue of being a police officer, and because the dispute in which he used the gun originated in the performance of his official duties. Layne v. Sampley, 627 F.2d 12, 13 (6th Cir.1980). Other courts have also held that various official actions in the work place are taken under color of state law. In Ruhlman v. Barger, 435 F.Supp. 447, 448 (W.D.Pa.1976), the court ruled that a state police commissioner and officers acted under color of state law in ordering the punitive transfer of another officer, even though such transfers were forbidden under department regulations. 9 Here, we are obliged to conclude that in allegedly flourishing and threatening to use his gun against Cassady, Tackett acted under color of state law. As in Layne, Tackett had authority or power to carry the gun in the jail only because he was the elected jailer of Johnson County. That Tackett acted against a fellow public employee is of no matter, as Ruhlman demonstrates. 10