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This legal framework is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 242, the statute DOJ uses to prosecute excessive force cases at the federal level. That provision makes it a crime when “[w]hoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” The statute, which dates to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era, applies when any government official, including an immigration agent, willfully violates a person’s constitutional rights. The Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, often in partnership with U.S. Attorney Offices across the country, has used that statute to successfully prosecute cases like the Rodney King beating, the fatal shooting of Walter Scott, and the murder of George Floyd, among others.
