Cite as: 521 U. S. 399 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
ity for "invoking state replevin, garnishment, and attachment statutes" later declared unconstitutional were "entitled to qualified immunity from suit." Id., at 159. It held that they were not. Id., at 169. We find four aspects of Wyatt relevant here.
First, as Wyatt noted, § 1983 basically seeks "to deter state actors from using the badge of their authority to deprive individuals of their federally guaranteed rights" and to provide related relief. Id., at 161 (emphasis added) (citing Carey v. Piphus, 435 U. S. 247, 254-257 (1978)); see also Owen v. Independence, 445 U. S. 622, 654 (1980). It imposes liability only where a person acts "under color" of a state "statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage." 42 U. S. C. § 1983. Nonetheless, Wyatt reaffirmed that § 1983 can sometimes impose liability upon a private individual. 504 U. S., at 162; see also Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U. S. 922, 924 (1982).
Second, Wyatt reiterated that after Harlow, supra, and this Court's reformulation of the qualified immunity doctrine, see Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U. S. 635, 645 (1987), a distinction exists between an "immunity from suit" and other kinds of legal defenses. 504 U. S., at 166-167; see also Mitchell, supra, at 526. As the Wyatt concurrence pointed out, a legal defense may well involve "the essence of the wrong," while an immunity frees one who enjoys it from a lawsuit whether or not he acted wrongly. 504 U. S., at 171- 172 (Kennedy, J., concurring).
Third, Wyatt specified the legal source of § 1983 immunities. It pointed out that although § 1983 " 'creates a species of tort liability that on its face admits of no immunities,' " id., at 163 (quoting Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S. 409, 417 (1976)), this Court has nonetheless accorded immunity where a
" 'tradition of immunity was so firmly rooted in the common law and was supported by such strong policy reasons that "Congress would have specifically so provided had it wished to abolish the doctrine." ' " 504 U. S., at 164 (quoting Owen v. Independence, supra, at 637).
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