CA7: Sexual assault under color of law can state 4A claim under § 1983

A police ride-along with a student led to a sexual assault § 1983 suit. “It is well established that sexual assault by a government official acting under color of law violates the Constitution. Cases from different circuits have relied on different constitutional provisions, but they have agreed on that bottom line, holding that sexual assault can violate the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause as sex discrimination, the Fourth Amendment right ‘of the people to be secure in their persons,’ and the right to bodily integrity protected by the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.” “Before digging into the substantive due process jurisprudence, we acknowledge that the Fourth Amendment will often provide the proper avenue for litigating a claim of sexual assault by an official acting under color of law.” Hess v. Garcia, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 16894 (7th Cir. July 5, 2023). See Bloomberg: Officer Must Face Teen’s Claims of ‘Ride Along’ Sexual Assault

“[M]alicious prosecution claims under § 1983 are not the types of malicious prosecution tort claims that might abate under Kentucky law. Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is accordingly denied.” Price v. Montgomery Cnty., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 16899 (6th Cir. July 5, 2023).*

A road rage incident with an off-duty law enforcement officer led to the officer getting charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment of his own child. Qualified immunity denied. “Under the facts as alleged in the complaint, Bradshaw violated Rosales’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures, and his egregious and unlawful conduct was obviously unconstitutional. Bradshaw is therefore not entitled to qualified immunity, and Rosales’s § 1983 claim against him may proceed.” Rosales v. Bradshaw, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 16886 (10th Cir. July 5, 2023).*