Hughes Anderson Bagley, Jr., Appellee/cross-Appellant v. Russell Rogerson and Patsy Bozarth, Appellants/cross-Appellees

RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge.

Iowa prison officials Russell Rogerson and Patsy Bozarth appeal from an order of the District Court denying their motion for summary judgment on their defense of qualified immunity. We reverse. We take this occasion to emphasize again that an allegation of a violation of state law, statutory or decisional, does not, in itself, state a claim under the federal Constitution or 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

I

This appeal arises from a Section 1983 action filed by Hughes Anderson Bagley, Jr. In 1977 and 1979, Bagley was convicted of various federal drug and firearms charges in the…