nexus test

nexus test. The standard by which a private person’s act is considered state action — and may give rise to liability for violating someone’s constitutional rights — if the conduct is so closely related to the government’s conduct that the choice to undertake it may fairly be said to be that of the state. • While similar to the symbiotic-relationship test, the nexus test focuses on the particular act complained of, instead of on the overall relationship of the parties. Still, some courts use the terms and analyses interchangeably.

— Also termed close-nexus test. Cf. SYMBIOTIC-RELATIONSHIP TEST T. See JOINT PARTICIPATION; STATE-COMPULSION TEST. [Cases: Civil Rights 1326(4, 7). C.J.S. Civil Rights §§ 92–94.]

“The complaining party must … show that there is a sufficiently close nexus between the State and the challenged action of the regulated entity so that the action of the latter may be fairly treated as that of the State itself. The purpose of this requirement is to assure that constitutional standards are invoked only when it can be said that the State is responsible for the specific conduct of which the plaintiff complains…. [O]ur precedents indicate that a State normally can be held responsible for a private decision only when it has exercised coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State.” Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 1004, 102 S.Ct. 2777, 2786 (1982).

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词条贡献者

译员黎川，在一家顶尖澳洲律师事务所的上海办公室担任全职法律翻译，专注翻译各种与澳大利亚业务有关的法律文件。