Henderson v. DeWine, 2022 Ohio 1025

Plaintiff Jerome Henderson, a death-row inmate convicted of aggravated murder, sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging civil-rights violations arising from attorney Shirley Adele Shank’s representation of him in state clemency and related proceedings.
Other defendants included Ohio state officials; service was not obtained on one defendant (Stebbins).
Shank moved to dismiss under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) (failure to state a claim) and 12(B)(1), arguing the claims were time-barred, barred by res judicata/federal adjudication, and—critically—that she did not act under color of state law.
The trial court denied Henderson’s motion for leave to amend and granted Shank’s motion to dismiss, finding multiple grounds meritorious and emphasizing the lack of action under color of law.
On appeal, the First District affirmed: it held private counsel do not act under color of state law for § 1983 purposes, and the denial of leave to amend was not an abuse of discretion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Shank acted under color of state law for § 1983 liability	Shank’s representation of Henderson in clemency and related matters amounted to state action	Private/appointed counsel do not act under color of state law when representing a defendant	Held: No; private counsel not acting under color of state law, so § 1983 claim fails
Whether denial of leave to amend was erroneous	Henderson sought to add citation to 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) to invoke concurrent jurisdiction	Amendment unnecessary and would be futile; court already had concurrent jurisdiction	Held: No abuse of discretion in denying amendment
Whether claims were barred by res judicata or statute of limitations	Henderson contended his claims were not barred	Defendant argued prior federal adjudication and limitations barred relief	Held: Court noted these arguments but relied on lack of color-of-law as dispositive; dismissal affirmed

Jones v. Dodge, 798 F.2d 1414 (6th Cir. 1986) (private or appointed counsel do not act under color of state law)
St. Clair Corp. v. Cleveland, 49 Ohio St.3d 33 (Ohio 1990) (elements of § 1983 require action under color of state law and deprivation of federal rights)