Which statement best describes Section 241?

• A. Federal crime to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any person for doing anything that the person had a legal right to be doing
• B. Federal civil code that allows a civil action against a police officer
• C. Federal crime for any person under color of law to deprive someone of a federal right
• D. A defense used by officers to avoid liability

Answer: (A)

Section 241 criminalizes a conspiracy against someone’s federal rights. The essential idea is that two or more people conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate a person because of that person’s exercise of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. The crime focuses on the agreement to interfere with protected rights, not on a successful outcome, and it applies when the target is acting lawfully or because of their protected status.

This is different from the other related offenses. A civil remedy against an officer isn’t what this statute creates; that would be a civil action under different law. Another provision punishes willful deprivation of rights under color of law (a separate offense) rather than a conspiracy. And this description fits a conspiracy against rights, not a mere defense or a different statutory claim.