Written by Rockefeller Law Center
Yes. This issue really does not come up under State law, since there are state laws permitting the suing of a private individual (or entity) for various types of injuries, but it is an issue that is more and more prominently featured in Federal lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This issue really does not come up under State law, since there are state laws permitting the suing of a private individual (or entity) for various types of injuries, but it is an issue that is more and more prominently featured in Federal lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

 

Traditionally, if a private individual (or entity) uses the machine of government to accomplish an illegal goal, the private individual (or entity) can be sued for a civil rights violation. For example, if an apartment complex hires a police officer to provide security in an apartment complex, and the officer negligently investigates the report of a rape; the victim could claim a constitutional right to have the report investigated. The officer may be protected by "qualified immunity," for a civil rights violation claim, but the apartment manager and/or owner could both be liable for negligently not having a policy requiring the officer to take specific actions in response to a claim of rape.

But, the reason there is an increase of civil rights lawsuits against a private individual (or entity) is very simple – "privatization" or the tendency to pass on traditionally governmental responsibilities to private actors. For example, county jails have a state-imposed responsibility to provide medical care to their inmates, while the constitutional imposition is only the requirement of some medical care. However, many county jails hire a private company (or individuals) to provide this state-imposed medical care for inmates. Thus, the responsibility of the county to provide medical care is passed on to the company and, if that company (or individuals) adopts policies meting out medical care in very minimal degrees, an inmate harmed by that policy can sue for negligence in the adoption of such parsimonious policies, in violation of the inmate’s civil rights.

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