Summary

This opinion responds to a request from the U.S. Capitol Police Board. Deputations made by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) of the U.S. Capitol Police Inspector General (USCP IG) and a member of his staff are not precluded by the constitutional principle of separation of powers. The deputations neither aggrandize power to the legislative or executive branches at the expense of the other, nor hinder or impermissibly entangle the operations of either branch with the other. Although we see no constitutional infirmity under the circumstances presented here, USMS retains the statutory discretion to choose whom to deputize. As to the question of potential liability that could result from actions taken by the USCP IG or his staff under the auspices of deputations found by a court, notwithstanding our opinion, to be constitutionally infirm, we examine three possible types of liability-individual liability for violations of constitutional rights, individual liability for torts under state laws, and federal government liability for torts based on state laws.