Title 42 U. S. Code Section 1983

Since the time of the Rodney King incident , there has been a growing public interest in ensuring that people in authority do not overstep their bounds . While Section 1983 is not a new addition or development to the Civil Rights Act of 1871 , it certainly reinforces the protections that have been lain down since the abuses of the Ku Klux Klan . Title 42 , Section 1983 of the United States Code is commonly known as section 1983 (Ross 2003 . It basically guarantees the protection of any individual who , under the colorable authority of state

or local legislation , personally deprives or causes another to be deprived of rights granted by the United States Constitution or any Federal Law should be held liable to that person so deprived or caused to be deprived

Title 42 , Section 1983 is historically a part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and is also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 . Congress had initially passed this as section 1 of the Ku Klux Klan Act . This was originally intended to act as a remedy for the abuse that were committed in the South during this time (Ross 2003 . However , this section did not have the effect that it currently has as it was only in 1961 , in the landmark case of Monroe V Pape that it was put into effect

In the case of Monroe V Pape , the Supreme Court of the United States categorically held that there are three (3 ) main reasons for...