Color of Law, Essay Example

Abstract

This paper defines the statute of color of law and its applicability to private security. In addition, it also provides an analysis and application of a legal issue concerning color of law. As a result, this paper contains information on the legal foundation of the law and the criteria set out by the government to justify the application and limitations of color of law.

Color of Law

Color of law is derived from the title 18, section 242 of the U.S Code entitled “Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law” (Schmidhauser, 1963). Simply put, color of law is a legal term being used to refer to an action done on the premise of a legal authority. The main purpose of this law is to govern and oversee misconducts concerning police investigations and performance. Under this statute, it is a crime for any person to willfully deprive any residents of the United States of America of their constitutional and human rights. Hence, police officers, correctional officers, federal agents, public safety officials, sheriff deputies and even off-duty officers who affirm their official standing may face prosecution by the state. The existence of this statute is founded on the incidences of abuse of power and the fact that people in authority get away from facing the consequences of their actions under the guise of “performed in the line of duty” clause.

It is a known fact that people who are vested with certain powers by the government such as police officers are performing difficult jobs on a daily manner. But despite such difficulty, they still have to function in accordance to the law and in a very professional manner. However, stress and various circumstances can sometimes contribute to police officers abusing their authority and exhibition of police misconduct. It has to be pointed out, though, that police misconduct is not limited to obvious wrongdoing but is transcending into threats and assault if a suspect does not cooperate. This only proves that some police officers do not have a full comprehension of the color of law and think that the department of justice is unjustly targeting them. Yet, the department of justice is only upholding the color of law to protect the society.

Color of Law’s Applicability to Private Security

Due to the fact that the demand for private policing is increasing because of the governmental and societal desire to protect the public and uphold safety, efforts are being made to ensure that the constitutional and legal aspects of private security are understood. Undeniably, constitutional protection extends to private security to act as state actors. Meaning to say, in certain circumstances, private security can make arrests. However, this power is not absolute. For example, if a security officer makes an arrest, such act will be scrutinized and determined if it followed protocol to make sure no constitutional right is violated. In this regard, a set of criteria has been set forth to determine whether or not private security has acted in the context of “state actors” to extend constitutional protection (Wells & Eaton, 2002):

• Did a certain governmental body license the security personnel?
• Did the security personnel acted under the supervision or in cooperation of a public office?
• Is the security personnel actually are police officers working a second job?
• Are there any special police powers designated to the security personnel?
• Is there a “nexus” between the security personnel and government or governmental body?
• Were the security personnel acting in line of enforcing the law and protecting private interest?

When the aforementioned questions are satisfied, a constitutional protection will be granted to private security. Typically, the existence of more qualifying factors will result to the determination of private security as state actor vested by the government with certain powers to make arrests, searches, or perform a duty that is of a police officer to uphold the law and protect private interests.

Legal issues

The main legal issue that is alarming about the color of law is the potential abuse and violence that can be committed in the guise of performance of duty. This means that individuals who have been bestowed with some special power by the government such as police officers and “state actors” might use excessive force yet the constitutional protection can be extended to them. Therefore, it has become illegal to deprive any person of their property or any constitutional and human rights even in the line of duty. For example, during an arrest, an officer cannot use excessive force to subdue the suspect. There should always be a conscious effort to remember that every person has rights that should be upheld regardless of a commission of a crime. In this regard, the color of law statute focuses on the areas of excessive force, false arrests and tampering of pieces of evidence, property deprivation, sexual assaults and failure to keep from damages. Meaning to say, even law officers and private security cannot use excessive force in making an arrest. Yes, they are allowed to use force to subdue a situation but it should a necessary reasonable force. Anything beyond that can result to prosecution. The phrase “the end does not justify the means” applies in this situation. People in power should not violate anyone’s rights in upholding the law.

In summary, it can be seen that the color of law helps in keeping the society safe and it gives people a legal course of action against abuse from authority. No one is above the law and the government together with the society should keep it that way. If a police officer or a state actor acted in violation of the color of law, a complaint can be easily filed to launch a proper investigation.

Citations and References

Schmidhauser, J. (1963). Constitutional Law in the Political Process. Chicago: Rand Mcnally & Company.

Wells, M. & Eaton, T. (2002). Constitutional Remedies: A Reference Guife to the United States Constitution. Westport, CT: Praeger.