Under color of law definition

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 requirement means that merely private conduct, no matter how discriminatory or wrongful, does

Examples of Under color of law in a sentence

  • Under color of law, the City and Mercadel acted in collusion and conspired with private actors to deprive Anderson of her property and liberty interest and rights protected under the U.S. Constitution.

  • Women of Prato married at 16.8 years on average in 1372 and at 21.1 in 1480.

  • Under color of law, the DEFENDANTS deprived PLAINTIFFS of their rights to protection from unlawful search and seizure by falsely charging them criminally and prosecuting PLAINTIFFS pursuant to such criminal statutes, for which there is no evidence or substantiation to support the allegations.

  • Let us define set S = {(i, j) : i ∈ [ln], j ∈ [di]} and set S′ = {(i, j) : i ∈ [ln], j ∈ [di + 1]}.

  • Contractor shall provide air conditioning for the FGD control room and Analyser room (if separately provided) & ventilation for the FGD system buildings as detailed in Sub-Section III-A2.

  • Ansoff Matrix Source: Own elaboration.After analyzing the matrix and its different growth strategies, it is considered that the right strategy is product development, a very common strategy in technological markets due to the constant innovation of the companies competing in it.

  • Under color of law, Rundle, Scruggs and Fielder, acting individually and in concert, knowingly and intentionally concealed evidence demonstrating that Carey-Shuler had authorized the transfer of $50,000 to Karym, and that MMAP had authorized the transfer of $50,000 to Karym.

  • Under color of law, School Defendants adopted, implemented, and are enforcing the Quarantine Policies.

  • Under color of law, co-defendant Vila required Montañez to surrender control to co-defendant López-Cabrera of documents, files, equipment, materials, funds, property and any other resources of the agency.

  • Under color of law, and having made a custodial arrest, defendants did inflict serious, permanent injuries upon Gates and cause damages to and otherwise violate his federal constitutional and federal civil rights.


More Definitions of Under color of law

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).

Related to Under color of law

  • Requirement of Law means, as to any Person, the Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws or other organizational or governing documents of such Person, and any law, treaty, rule or regulation or determination of an arbitrator or a court or other Governmental Authority, in each case applicable to or binding upon such Person or any of its property or to which such Person or any of its property is subject.

  • BREACH OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION means amongst others also the following:

  • Contractual Obligation means, as to any Person, any provision of any security issued by such Person or of any agreement, instrument or other undertaking to which such Person is a party or by which it or any of its property is bound.

  • Change of Law shall have the meaning set forth in Section 8.02.

  • Requirements of Law means, with respect to any Person, any statutes, laws, treaties, rules, regulations, orders, decrees, writs, injunctions or determinations of any arbitrator or court or other Governmental Authority, in each case applicable to or binding upon such Person or any of its property or to which such Person or any of its property is subject.

  • Extra Contractual Obligations shall be defined as those liabilities not covered under any other provision of this Contract and that arise from the handling of any claim on business covered hereunder, such liabilities arising because of, but not limited to, the following: failure by the Company to settle within the Policy limit, or by reason of alleged or actual negligence, fraud or bad faith in rejecting an offer of settlement or in the preparation of the defense or in the trial of any action against its insured or reinsured or in the preparation or prosecution of an appeal consequent upon such action.

  • REMIC Change of Law Any proposed, temporary or final regulation, revenue ruling, revenue procedure or other official announcement or interpretation relating to REMICs and the REMIC Provisions issued after the Closing Date.

  • Competent Court of Law means any court or tribunal or any similar judicial or quasi- judicial body in India that has jurisdiction to adjudicate upon issues relating to this Agreement;

  • Legal Requirement means any law, statute, ordinance, decree, requirement, order, judgment, rule, regulation (or interpretation of any of the foregoing) of, and the terms of any license or permit issued by, any Governmental Authority.

  • Contractual Obligations means, as to any Person, any provision of any security issued by such Person or of any agreement, undertaking, contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust or other instrument, document or agreement to which such Person is a party or by which it or any of its Property is bound.

  • Counterfeit Part means (1) An unauthorized copy, imitation, substitute, or modified part, which is knowingly misrepresented as a specified genuine part of the manufacturer. (2) Or a previously used Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical (EEE) Part which has been modified and is knowingly misrepresented as new without disclosure to the customer that it has been previously used. NOTE 1: Examples of a counterfeit part can include, but are not limited to; the false identification of grade, serial number, date code or performance characteristics. NOTE 2: This definition shall be read so as not to conflict with the definition for “counterfeit electronic part” cited in the Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.246-7007, where that definition shall govern to the extent that clause applies.

  • IP Ancillary Rights means, with respect to any other Intellectual Property, as applicable, all foreign counterparts to, and all divisionals, reversions, continuations, continuations-in-part, reissues, reexaminations, renewals and extensions of, such Intellectual Property and all income, royalties, proceeds and Liabilities at any time due or payable or asserted under or with respect to any of the foregoing or otherwise with respect to such Intellectual Property, including all rights to xxx or recover at law or in equity for any past, present or future infringement, misappropriation, dilution, violation or other impairment thereof, and, in each case, all rights to obtain any other IP Ancillary Right.

  • Ancillary Rights means, in each case with respect to the relevant Seller Receivable:

  • Construction Party means a party to a Construction Service Agreement. “Construction Parties” shall mean all of the Parties to a Construction Service Agreement.

  • Constituent Documents means, with respect to any Person, (a) the articles of incorporation, certificate of incorporation, constitution or certificate of formation (or the equivalent organizational documents) of such Person, (b) the by-laws or operating agreement (or the equivalent governing documents) of such Person and (c) any document setting forth the manner of election or duties of the directors or managing members of such Person (if any) and the designation, amount or relative rights, limitations and preferences of any class or series of such Person’s Stock.

  • Contractual Requirement shall have the meaning provided in Section 8.3.

  • Organic law means the statute governing the internal affairs of a domestic or foreign corporation or

  • Torture means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;

  • Governing Documents means, with respect to any Person, such Person’s charter, articles or certificate of incorporation, limited partnership, formation or organization, bylaws, limited partnership agreement, limited liability company agreement or other documents or instruments which establish the rules, procedures and rights with respect to such Person’ governance, in each case as amended, restated, supplemented and/or modified and in effect as of the relevant date.

  • Applicable Legal Requirements means all laws (including common law), statutes, regulations, codes, rules, treaties, ordinances, judgments, directives, permits, decrees, decisions, approvals, interpretations, injunctions, writs, orders or other similar legal requirements in effect of any governmental authority relating to the Work, either of the Parties, ADA-ES, Inc., the Project or any of the activities of either of the Parties contemplated by the Potential Transaction.

  • Credit Party means the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank, the Swingline Lender or any other Lender.

  • Subject Entity means any Person, Persons or Group or any Affiliate or associate of any such Person, Persons or Group.

  • Improper governmental action means any action by a district officer or employee:

  • Material Foreign Subsidiary means any Foreign Subsidiary that is a Material Subsidiary.

  • Group Member means a member of the Partnership Group.

  • Material Assets means with respect to any Person all Material interests in any kind of property or asset, whether real, personal or mixed, or tangible or intangible.