Source: http://openjurist.org/619/f2d/196
Timestamp: 2017-04-29 00:22:12
Document Index: 728183751

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983']

619 F2d 196 Turpin v. Mailet | OpenJurist
619 F. 2d 196 - Turpin v. Mailet HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 619 F.2d.
619 F2d 196 Turpin v. Mailet 619 F.2d 196
Thomas TURPIN, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Joseph MAILET et al., Defendants-Appellants.
Argued Dec. 5, 1979.Decided April 8, 1980.
With the decision in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the Supreme Court permitted local governmental entities to be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for constitutional violations caused by acts committed pursuant to "official policy." This case raises the question of what type conduct on the part of municipal employees can constitute an "official policy" within the meaning of Monell. The City of West Haven appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut entered by Judge Jon O. Newman after a jury trial, holding the City liable for causing plaintiff's unlawful arrest. The City contends that the district court erroneously instructed the jury as to the applicable standard of liability under Monell and that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of an "official policy." We hold that the court correctly stated the applicable legal principles. However, we reverse because of the insufficiency of the evidence.
One day after our Turpin I decision the Supreme Court in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), overruled Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961), and held that local governments could be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for causing the invasion of constitutional rights. The Supreme Court then vacated our Turpin I decision, 439 U.S. 974, 99 S.Ct. 554, 58 L.Ed.2d 645 (1978), instructing us to reconsider our prior ruling in light of the standards established by Monell. In view of Turpin's allegations, which met these standards, we reinstated our prior decision with instructions to the district court to permit plaintiff to proceed under § 1983. 591 F.2d 426 (2d Cir. 1979) (en banc) ("Turpin II ").
At issue here is whether the action taken by the City of West Haven after the trial of Skeens constituted an "official policy" within the meaning of Monell and whether that policy caused Turpin to be subjected to a denial of his constitutional rights. This case is therefore unlike Monell, where the challenged official policy and conduct was embodied in a municipal regulation, leaving for the fact finder only the questions of whether the policy caused the injury to the plaintiff there and whether the municipality was entitled to some sort of qualified immunity, an issue left unanswered by Monell. See Owen v. City of Independence, Mo., 589 F.2d 335 (8th Cir. 1978), cert. granted, 48 U.S.L.W. 3217 (1979);1 Sala v. County of Suffolk, 604 F.2d 207 (2d Cir. 1979); Bertot v. School District, No. 1, Albany County, Wyoming, 613 F.2d 245 (10th Cir. 1979) (en banc); Paxman v. Campbell, 612 F.2d 848 (4th Cir. 1979) (en banc); Huemmer v. Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, 474 F.Supp. 704 (D.Md.1979); Ohland v. City of Montpelier, 467 F.Supp. 324 (D.Va.1979); Gross v. Pomerleau, 465 F.Supp. 1167 (D.Md.1979); Shuman v. City of Philadelphia, 470 F.Supp. 449 (E.D.Pa.1979).
Nor is this a case where plaintiff has alleged a persistent pattern or practice by municipal officials which amounted to a "custom or usage" within the meaning of Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), the case relied upon by the Court in Monell for its definition of those terms. See Mayes v. Elrod, 470 F.Supp. 1188 (N.D.Ill.1979). Rather, plaintiff here is alleging that the municipality's policy is not reflected in clearly articulated rules and regulations or in a pattern or practice but rather in conduct principally failure to take disciplinary action on the part of those in senior policy making roles.
The City's first objection to the decision below is that the district court erred by adopting our language in Turpin I to charge the jury that a municipality may be held liable when it "authorizes, sanctions or ratifies unconstitutional action taken by one of its police officers."2 However, we find no significant difference between the district court's instructions here and the principles announced in Monell. We must therefore reject at the outset appellant's suggestion that an "official policy" within the meaning of Monell cannot be inferred from informal acts or omissions of supervisory municipal officials. Indeed, by holding that a municipality can be held liable for its "custom" Monell recognized that less than formal municipal conduct can in some instances give rise to municipal liability under § 1983. To require that senior officials must have formally adopted or promulgated a policy before their conduct may be treated as "official" would for present purposes render Monell a nullity, exalting form over substance. Moreover, in formulating a standard in Turpin I for determining municipal liability we looked for guidance to those cases that had addressed the liability of a municipal supervisor under § 1983, notably the Supreme Court's decision in Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976), where it denied relief because plaintiffs had there failed to show an "affirmative link between the occurrence of the various incidents of police misconduct and the adoption of any plan or policy by petitioners express or otherwise showing their authorization or approval of such misconduct." 423 U.S. at 371, 96 S.Ct. at 604 (emphasis added). Thereafter in Turpin II we held that the standard announced in Turpin I "was essentially co-extensive" with the standard announced in Monell. We see no reason to question that holding here.3 We accordingly hold that if the City of West Haven impliedly or tacitly authorized, approved or encouraged harassment of Turpin, it promulgated an official policy within the meaning of Monell.
Appellant, however, contends that § 1983 does not authorize recovery where municipal inaction in this case failure to discipline Skeens causes the subsequent unconstitutional conduct. Although a number of courts have held that a supervisor may not be held liable unless he affirmatively participates in, encourages or directs the commission of illegal acts, e. g., Coffy v. Multi-County Narcotics Bureau, 600 F.2d 570 (6th Cir. 1979); Lewis v. Hyland, 554 F.2d 93 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 931, 98 S.Ct. 419, 54 L.Ed.2d 291 (1977); Kostka v. Hogg, 560 F.2d 37 (1st Cir. 1977), others have permitted recovery if the supervisor's failure to act is blameworthy. See, Little v. Walker, 552 F.2d 193 (7th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 932, 98 S.Ct. 1507, 55 L.Ed.2d 530 (1978); Redmond v. Baxley, 475 F.Supp. 1111 (E.D.Mich.1979). More important, the Supreme Court in Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), held that to state a cause of action against public officials for the deprivation of the right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment plaintiff must allege "acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to serious medical needs." 429 U.S. at 106, 97 S.Ct. at 292 (emphasis added).
The allegations here clearly meet that standard.4 We see no reason why an official policy cannot be inferred from the omissions of a municipality's supervisory officials, as well as from its acts. The issue of authorization, approval or encouragement is generally one of fact, not law. For example, where senior personnel have knowledge of a pattern of constitutionally offensive acts by their subordinates but fail to take remedial steps, the municipality may be held liable for a subsequent violation if the superior's inaction amounts to deliberate indifference or to tacit authorization of the offensive acts. See Smith v. Ambrogio, 456 F.Supp. 1130, 1136 (D.Conn.1978); Popow v. City of Margate, 476 F.Supp. 1237 (D.N.J.1979). Although that standard is undoubtedly difficult to meet, see Lewis v. Hyland, supra; Smith v. Ambrogio, supra at 1136, we cannot say as a matter of law that failure to act may never give rise to an official policy within the meaning of Monell.5
Appellant next contends that, even if a policy can be inferred from omissions of a municipality, such as where it acquiesces in a pattern of illegal conduct, such a policy cannot be inferred from the failure of those in charge to discipline a single police officer for a single incident of illegality. We agree that, absent more evidence of supervisory indifference, such as acquiescence in a prior pattern of conduct, a policy could not ordinarily be inferred from a single incident of illegality such as a first arrest without probable cause or with excessive use of force. See, e. g., Smith v. Ambrogio, supra; Schramm v. Krischell, 84 F.R.D. 294 (D.Conn.1979); Randle v. Gokey, 469 F.Supp. 452 (N.D.Ohio 1979); see Knight v. Carlson, 478 F.Supp. 55 (E.D.Cal.1979); Stringer v. City of Chicago, 464 F.Supp. 887 (N.D.Ill.1979); Schweiker v. Gordon, 442 F.Supp. 1134 (E.D.Pa.1977); Jones v. McElroy, 429 F.Supp. 848 (E.D.Pa.1977).6 However, a single, unusually brutal or egregious beating administered by a group of municipal employees may be sufficiently out of the ordinary to warrant an inference that it was attributable to inadequate training or supervision amounting to deliberate indifference or "gross negligence" on the part of officials in charge. See Owens v. Haas, 601 F.2d 1242 (2d Cir. 1979). See Leite v. City of Providence, 463 F.Supp. 585 (D.R.I.1978). But cf. Popow v. Margate, 476 F.Supp. 1237 (D.N.J.1979) (rejecting Owens ).
Turpin's proof of an official policy of harassment therefore boiled down to the Board's failure to discipline Skeens. In denying the City's motion for judgment n. o. v. Judge Newman recognized that whether this evidence was sufficient to meet the applicable standard presented a "close question," which "probably should be reviewed by the Court of Appeals." Upon this review we conclude that the evidence was inadequate as a matter of law. Although the Board's failure might suggest a slight disregard for Turpin's rights,8 it falls far short of constituting deliberate indifference to those rights or a tacit encouragement of members of the Police Department to go out and harass Turpin. While it is true that juries are entitled to some latitude in drawing inferences as to the existence of an official policy and that the standard for a directed verdict and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict is a difficult one to meet, Simblest v. Maynard, supra; Armstrong v. Commerce Tankers Corp., 423 F.2d 957, 959 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 833, 91 S.Ct. 67, 27 L.Ed.2d 65 (1970); C-Suzanne Beauty Salon, Ltd. v. General Insurance Co. of America, 574 F.2d 106, 112 n.10 (2d Cir. 1978), there are limits to that latitude, which were exceeded in the present case. In our view no reasonable person could find, in the light of the evidence adduced at trial, that Mailet's unlawful arrest of Turpin was made pursuant to any official policy on the part of the City of West Haven.
In reaching this conclusion we not only give Turpin the benefit of every reasonable inference that might be drawn from the evidence but find the proof here to be significantly distinguishable from that in cases where responsible municipal officials, aware of a pattern of unconstitutional action on the part of the municipality's officer or officers, authorize or encourage further misconduct by failing to act. See Lewis v. Hyland, supra at 101 (obliviousness and insensitivity to citizen complaints, while reinforcing an impression of official indifference, is not enough to establish a causal link between the hierarchy and the employees). But cf., Sims v. Adams, 537 F.2d 829 (5th Cir. 1976); Popow v. City of Margate, supra; Moon v. Winfield, 383 F.Supp. 31 (N.D.Ill.1974). We are also conscious of that unusual type of case where particularly egregious conduct on the part of a group of officers warrants an inference of official acquiescence, see Owens v. Haas, supra. Here, however, we have no proof of either a pattern of illegality or of an incident of the Owens v. Haas type. The proof here, in contrast, that Mailet's arrest of Turpin was caused by the inaction of the Board is simply too attenuated to support municipal liability under § 1983. To permit liability to be predicated upon such evidence would totally overextend the principles of Monell and Rizzo. This we decline to do.
An even stronger case for imposing liability for inaction occurs when the municipality fails to remedy a specific situation, the continuation of which causes a deprivation of constitutional rights. See Smith v. Ambrogio, 456 F.Supp. 1130, 1136 (D.Conn.1978). That, of course, is not this case