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Opinion of Rehnquist, C. J.
consequenc[e]." 975 F. 2d, at 346-347. The panel of the Seventh Circuit reasoned that "just as in the garden-variety public-officer defamation case that does not result in exclusion from an occupation, state tort remedies should be adequate and the heavy weaponry of constitutional litigation can be left at rest." Id., at 347.4 We granted certiorari, 507
4 As noted by the Court of Appeals below, the extent to which a claim of malicious prosecution is actionable under § 1983 is one "on which there is an embarrassing diversity of judicial opinion." 975 F. 2d, at 345, citing Brummett v. Camble, 946 F. 2d 1178, 1180, n. 2 (CA5 1991) (cataloging divergence of approaches by the Courts of Appeals). Most of the lower courts recognize some form of malicious prosecution action under § 1983. The disagreement among the courts concerns whether malicious prosecutions, standing alone, can violate the Constitution. The most expansive approach is exemplified by the Third Circuit, which holds that the elements of a malicious prosecution action under § 1983 are the same as the common-law tort of malicious prosecution. See, e. g., Lee v. Mihalich, 847 F. 2d 66, 70 (1988) ("[T]he elements of liability for the constitutional tort of malicious prosecution under § 1983 coincide with those of the common law tort"). See also Sanders v. English, 950 F. 2d 1152, 1159 (CA5 1992) ("[O]ur circuit recognizes causes of action under § 1983 for false arrest, illegal detention . . . and malicious prosecution" because these causes of action "implicate the constitutional 'guarantees of the fourth and fourteenth amendments' "); Robinson v. Maruffi, 895 F. 2d 649 (CA10 1990); Strength v. Hubert, 854 F. 2d 421, 426, and n. 5 (CA11 1988) (recognizing that "freedom from malicious prosecution is a federal right protected by § 1983"). Other Circuits, however, require a showing of some injury or deprivation of a constitutional magnitude in addition to the traditional elements of common-law malicious prosecution. The exact standards announced by the courts escape easy classification. See, e. g., Torres v. Superintendent of Police of Puerto Rico, 893 F. 2d 404, 409 (CA1 1990) (the challenged conduct must be "so egregious that it violated substantive or procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment"); Usher v. Los Angeles, 828 F. 2d 556, 561-562 (CA9 1987) ("[T]he general rule is that a claim of malicious prosecution is not cognizable under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 if process is available within the state judicial system to provide a remedy . . . . However, 'an exception exists to the general rule when a malicious prosecution is conducted with the intent to deprive a person of equal protection of the laws or is otherwise intended to subject a person to a denial of constitutional rights' "); Coogan v. Wixom, 820 F. 2d 170, 175 (CA6 1987) (in addition to elements of malicious prosecution under
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