Venegas

This case presents three issues arising from a civil rights action brought by plaintiffs David and Beatriz Venegas against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the sheriff, and three of his deputies. I join the majority in the resolution of two of those issues but not the third.

I.

Evidence at trial established that when plaintiffs were pumping gas into their car, the three deputies stopped them on suspicion of car theft, searched the car, and then went to plaintiffs’ home and searched it. The deputies arrested David for possessing a car without a visible vehicle identification *852 number (Veh. Code, § 10751), a misdemeanor. The district attorney did not file any criminal charge against either plaintiff.

Plaintiffs brought suit, claiming violations of federal and state civil rights laws. The trial court ruled in favor of defendants, sustaining demurrers to some causes of action and entering nonsuit on others. The Court of Appeal reversed. This court reverses in part and affirms in part the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which on remand is to decide whether the sheriff’s deputies have a qualified immunity from liability on plaintiffs’ federal civil rights claims. (See…

Does a sheriff act on behalf of the state or county when conducting a criminal investigation, including detaining suspects and searching their home and vehicle? As we shall see, based on the analysis in prior California cases, sheriffs act on behalf of the state when performing law enforcement activities. Under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the state is absolutely immune from tort liability under the federal civil rights act ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , hereafter section 1983). Accordingly, as agents of the state when acting in their law enforcement roles, California sheriffs are likewise absolutely immune from prosecution for asserted violations of that section. We will reverse that part of the judgment of the Court of Appeal reaching a contrary conclusion in this case.

We also consider whether the sheriff’s deputies involved here were entitled to qualified immunity under section 1983 because reasonable officers in their position would have believed their actions were lawful under established law. We conclude that the Court of Appeal employed incorrect legal principles in *827 resolving this issue. After…

I concur in the majority opinion’s conclusion that the Los Angeles County Sheriff acted as an agent of the state in undertaking the criminal investigation in this case, and that under Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity principles, the sheriff was immune from prosecution for the asserted violations of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1871 ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (section 1983)). (Majority opn. of Chin, J., ante, pt. II.) I further concur in the majority opinion’s discussion of the qualified immunity defense that may be available to the sheriff’s deputies with regard to those same section 1983 claims. (Majority opn., ante, pt. III.)

With considerably less enthusiasm, I also join in the majority opinion’s determination that, given the unambiguous language of subdivision (g) of Civil Code section 52.1 (section 52.1), plaintiffs adequately pleaded a cause of action “for unreasonable search and seizure” under that section notwithstanding their failure to allege that defendants acted with intent to discriminate, also commonly referred to as discriminatory animus. (Majority opn., ante, pt. IV.) I write separately to voice my concern that the Legislature, in amending section 52.1 by adding…

Does a sheriff act on behalf of the state or county when conducting a criminal investigation, including detaining suspects and searching their home and vehicle? As we shall see, based on the analysis in prior California cases, sheriffs act on behalf of the state when performing law enforcement activities. Under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the state is absolutely immune from tort liability under the federal Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. ง 1983, hereafter section 1983). Accordingly, as agents of the state when acting in their law enforcement roles, California sheriffs are likewise absolutely immune from prosecution for asserted violations of that section. We will reverse that part of the judgment of the Court of Appeal reaching a contrary conclusion in this case.

We also consider whether the sheriff's deputies involved here were entitled to qualified immunity under section 1983 because reasonable officers in their position would have believed their actions were lawful under established law. We conclude that the Court of Appeal employed incorrect legal principles in resolving this issue. After explaining…