Under color of law means the real or purported use of authority provided by law. A person acts “under color of law” when that person acts in his or her official capacity or claims to act in his or her official capacity. Acts committed “under color of law” include not only the actions of officials within the limits of their lawful authority, but also the actions of officials who exceed the limits of their lawful authority while purporting or claiming to act in performance of their official duties.135
Under color of law generally means that a government agent acts under official authority. See, e.g., United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326 (1941) (“Misuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law, is action taken ‘under color of’ state law.”). On the other hand, physical restraint is defined as “forcible restraint of the victim such as by being tied, bound, or locked up.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1 cmt. n.1(K). For example, in Clayton, the Fifth Circuit concluded that § 3A1.3’s two-level enhancement applied where a police officer “took advantage of [the arrestee’s] restraint and the particular vulnerability of the victim,” because that physical restraint “intensifie[d] the wilfulness, the inexcusableness and reprehensibleness of the crime and hence increase[d] the culpability of the defendant.” United States v. Clayton, 172 F.3d 347, 353 (5th Cir. 1999); see also United States v. Carson, 560 F.3d 566, 588 (6th Cir. 2009) (adopting the Clayton court’s reasoning).7
Under color of law generally means that a government agent acts under official authority. See United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326 (1941) (“Misuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law, is action taken ‘under color of’ state law.”). “The color-of-law adjustment punishes abuse of authority, either actual or apparent, by an officer of the state.” United States v. Volpe, 224 F.2d 72, 76 (2d Cir. 2000). “Acts of officers who undertake to perform their official duties are included whether they hew to the line of their authority or overstep it.” Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 111 (1945); see also id. (“If, as suggested, the statute was designed to embrace only action which the State in fact authorized, the words ‘under color of any law’ were hardly apt words to express the idea.”). Moreover, “[p]rivate persons, jointly engaged with state officials in the prohibited action, are acting ‘under color’ of law for purposes of the statute. To act ‘under color’ of law does not require that the accused be an officer of the State. It is enough that he is a willful participant in joint activity with the State or its agents.” United States v. Price, 383 U.S. 787, 794 (1966).
More Definitions of Under color of law
Under color of law requirement means that merely private conduct, no matter how discriminatory or wrongful, does