Opinion ID: 1202641
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Requisite Culpability Under The Unconstitutional Policy or Practice Theory

Text: Plaintiffs have also brought a claim against Franklin County under § 1983 for an unconstitutional policy or practice. For liability to attach, plaintiffs must show a wrongful or injurious policy or custom on the part of the County and a causal link between the policy and the unconstitutional deprivation. Berry v. City of Detroit, 25 F.3d 1342, 1345 (6th Cir.1994) (a municipality's failure to train its employees in a relevant respect evidences a `deliberate indifference' to the rights of its inhabitants [and] such a shortcoming [can] be properly thought of as a city `policy or custom' that is actionable under § 1983.). Plaintiffs claim that Franklin County inadequately trained its caseworkers such that they were not required to contact law enforcement agencies in the county of placement to insure that prospective care givers did not have criminal backgrounds. This failure resulted in Daniel's placement with Mr. Powers despite Mr. Powers's conviction for aggravated menacing, which would have precluded his eligibility as a possible residence for Daniel. As the district court held, in order to meet the deliberate indifference standard outlined in Berry and City of Canton v. Harris, the failure to train must reflect a deliberate or conscious choice made by the municipality. 489 U.S. 378, 388-89, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989). The County may be held liable only if the need for more or different training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights, that the policy makers of the city can reasonably be said to have been deliberately indifferent to the need. Id. at 390, 109 S.Ct. 1197. We agree with the district court that plaintiffs have not established deliberate indifference; rather, the plaintiffs have shown only negligence. As discussed earlier, it is obvious that more could have been done, and that better training and procedures may have helped to prevent Daniel's death. But it cannot be said that the inadequacy of the training provided by the county was so obviously inadequate as to likely result in a violation of constitutional rights. There was no history of this type of violence in Franklin County; only Daniel's tragic incident is presented as evidence of the alleged unconstitutional policy and practice. Accordingly, it cannot be said that Franklin County was deliberately indifferent to the need for more or different training in this context.