Opinion ID: 447979
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Claims against the Sheriff and the County of Will.

Text: 56 The sheriff was properly dismissed from this case. In Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 374, 96 S.Ct. 598, 605, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976), the Supreme Court indicated that a supervisory official cannot personally be held liable under a respondeat superior theory in a Sec. 1983 action. Following the language contained in Rizzo, our court has also refused to hold supervisory officials liable based upon a respondeat superior theory of liability. See Schultz v. Baumgart, 738 F.2d 231, 238-39 (7th Cir.1984); Wolf-Lillie v. Sonquist, 699 F.2d 864, 869 (7th Cir.1983); Chapman v. Pickett, 586 F.2d 22 (7th Cir.1978). In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that the office of the sheriff was used to force payment of the bill and that all defendants, the sheriff, the deputies, and Schneiter, knew that no probable cause existed for the arrest. However, the only persons in the sheriff's department that participated in the arrest were a shift sergeant, who allegedly issued the arrest order, and the deputies. (For some unknown reason, the shift sergeant was not named as a party in this action.) The plaintiffs neither have alleged that the shift sergeant was not properly trained by the sheriff, which if they had it would have established the necessary direct participation, nor have they presented any facts demonstrating that the sheriff participated directly in the arrest. 57 The County of Will was also properly dismissed from the action. In Count I of the plaintiffs' complaint, they allege that the County of Will was responsible for the acts of the other defendants since those acts were done under the color of state law. Whatever the liability of the other defendants are in this case, this allegation is insufficient to support a cause of action against the County of Will in this circuit. In Lenard v. Argento, 699 F.2d 874, 885 (7th Cir.1983), this court reiterated the holding expressed in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) that a municipality also cannot be liable under Sec. 1983 based upon a respondeat superior theory. See also, Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205 at 1269, 1272-73 (7th Cir. Sept. 4, 1984) (A custom, policy or practice cannot be inferred from a single incident of unconstitutional behavior .... Id. at 1272). 58 In Count III of their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the County is responsible for the conditions under which the plaintiffs were made to suffer during their period of confinement. Earlier in this opinion we held that the verbal abuse of the plaintiffs by other detainees was not sufficiently severe as to constitute a denial of their Fourteenth Amendment rights and that any denial of the right to consult with an attorney did not rise to a constitutional deprivation under the facts of this case. We further stated that the failure of the jail guards to segregate the detainees by sex also did not violate the due process rights of the plaintiffs. Since we deny these claims, any corresponding claims against the county must also be denied. As to the period of detention, any claim against the County of Will must also fail. If the deputies did in fact violate the plaintiffs' constitutional liberty interest by holding them for an unreasonable amount of time, such conduct flows from those actions. Liability would only attach to the county if the plaintiffs could establish that the County implicitly authorized, approved, or knowingly acquiesced in the unconstitutional behavior of the offending officers. Lenard, 699 F.2d at 885. The mere inaction on the part of the county would be insufficient to establish liability. Id. Although the plaintiffs' complaint alleges in general terms that the county is responsible for the failure of the sheriff and his jailer to allow the plaintiffs to post bond within a reasonable time, the complaint lacks specific allegations of any pattern of inaction or lack of enforcement of the bonding procedures. Further, there is no evidence in the record establishing such a practice. Therefore, since no evidence was presented as to the county's degree of culpability as a separate entity apart from its officers, the claims against the county were properly dismissed.