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A 'Milder Measure Of Villainy': The Unknown History Of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 And The Meaning Of 'Under Color Of' Law, David J. Achtenberg
A 'Milder Measure Of Villainy': The Unknown History Of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 And The Meaning Of 'Under Color Of' Law, David J. Achtenberg
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Chapter 42 U.S. C. § 1983, was originally enacted as section 1 of the Ku Klux Act. Not surprisingly, the history of the Ku Klux Act has played an important role in the interpretation of 42 U.S. C. § 1983. Unfortunately, the generally accepted history of the Ku Klux Act is incomplete, distorted, and, in some respects, demonstrably wrong.
The conventional history of the Ku Klux Act is flawed in three respects. First, it omits the first several chapters of the story. The conventional history begins with Grant's March 23, 1871, message to the Forty-second Congress and completely overlooks the …