Arthur Radcliff v. Bruce G. Landau University of West Los Angeles Perry M. Polski Henry Blunt, Jr. Lanny Wong

Plaintiff-Appellant is proceeding pro se in this civil rights action alleging discrimination on the basis of race. The plaintiffs essential grievance is his alleged dismissal from the defendant University of West Los Angeles School of Law because of his race and his active participation in a black students’ association. He sued the school, a professor and the school’s officers. He admits to doing poorly in an examination, but he alleges that other students with similar academic records who were not black were not dismissed. Although he is not sophisticated in the law, and the legal bases for his claims are not clearly articulated, when it comes to expressing allegations of his perception of a rather disturbing incident which he alleges preceded the exam and his dismissal, he writes with considerable clarity. The following is taken from his complaint:

The district court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the only basis alleged for federal jurisdiction was 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982), which creates a remedy when federal rights are violated under color of state law. The district court correctly ruled that because neither the school nor the professor were acting under color of…