Polk County v. Dodson
- Decided
- December 14, 1981
- Docket
- 80-824
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 4,924 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that public defender does not act under color of state law when defending clients — John Doe and Jane Doe, as Next Friend of Sarah Doe v. Rains County Independent School District, Dana White (1995)
- concluding that state cannot be deemed responsible for acts committed by a public defender when “exercising her independent professional judgment in a criminal proceeding” — Nick P. Montano v. Paul Hedgepeth James Helling Dale Vande Krol (1997)
- holding that public defenders do not act “under color of state law” and therefore are not subject to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 — Bourdon v. Loughren (2004)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*314] Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question in this case is whether a public defender acts “under color of state law” when representing an indigent defendant in a state criminal proceeding.
HH This case arose when the respondent Russell Richard Dodson filed a pro se complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Dodson brought the action in federal court under 42 U. S. C. § 1983. As the factual basis for his lawsuit Dodson alleged that Martha Shepard, an attorney in the Polk County Offender Advocate’s Office, had failed to represent him adequately in an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.[1]
Statutes cited
Cite this
Polk County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312 (1981)Read the full opinion
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