State action

State action is an American legal concept that includes activities of the government and quasi-governmental entities. When there is state action, the affected parties enjoy protections provided by federal law and the U.S. Constitution, especially procedural protections of the 14th Amendment that do not usually apply to purely private conduct. 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which establishes a remedy for violations of the Constitution, only applies to state action.

The boundaries of what constitutes state action when the actor is private but serving a public function are murky. In Brentwood Acad. v. Tenn. Secondary Sch. Ath. Ass'n, 531 U.S. 288, 295 (2001), the U.S. Supreme Court found the existence of state action because "there is such a 'close nexus between the State and the challenged action' that seemingly private behavior 'may be fairly treated as that of the State itself.'" Similarly, the Ohio Supreme Court found state action in State ex rel. Ohio AFL-CIO v. Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp., 97 Ohio St. 3d 504, 507 (2002), "when the state provides significant encouragement for the activity" (citing Brentwood Acad., 531 U.S. at 296).