Also known as: state actors · state action
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person or entity whose conduct is fairly attributable to the state under the Fourteenth Amendment. Attribution occurs when the person exercises a right or privilege created by the state, acts with significant state aid, or performs a traditional public function.
Sebastian Santos sued Sophia Singh for breach of contract in state court. During jury selection Singh used a peremptory challenge to strike the only Black venire member. The trial judge enforced the strike without inquiry. The enforcement converted Singh's private choice into state action subject to equal protection scrutiny.
Scott Summers, a public school student, refused to salute the flag as required by the state board of education. The board expelled him for noncompliance. The board's regulation and enforcement made its policy state action that implicated First Amendment protections.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Santiago Sanchez published an article exposing local corruption. A state court issued an injunction halting further publication under a nuisance statute. The court's order constituted state action that triggered First Amendment review of the restraint.
Simone Sanders, a terminally ill patient, sought a physician's assistance to end her life. State law criminalized the assistance. The statute represented state action that raised substantive due process questions under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Sophia Singh was assaulted by her former partner. She sued under a federal statute creating a civil remedy for gender-motivated violence. The statute did not convert the private assault into state action, so the claim failed for lack of constitutional violation.
Synergy Systems, a corporation, sought to air an electioneering communication. Federal restrictions limited the broadcast. The restrictions constituted state action that implicated the corporation's First Amendment rights.
The Lugar test asks first whether the deprivation resulted from exercise of a right or privilege created by the state and second whether the actor may fairly be said to be a state actor because of official position, joint activity, or significant state aid.
No. A public defender performing traditional advocacy functions does not act under color of state law even though appointed by the court.
A private athletic association is a state actor when public schools dominate its governing board, public resources support its operations, and its regulatory actions are entwined with state institutions.
Yes. Court enforcement of a covenant that forbids sale of property to Black persons supplies the requisite state action under the Equal Protection Clause.
Yes. When a private entity owns and operates a town that performs all municipal functions, its operation of public spaces constitutes state action for First Amendment purposes.
…This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to…