Opinion ID: 891216
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Official policy or custom

Text: In Monell, the Supreme Court stated that “Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort.” 436 U.S. at 691. “[I]t is when execution of a government’s policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy, inflicts the injury that the government as an entity is responsible under § 1983.” Id. at 694. “The ‘official policy’ requirement was intended to distinguish acts of the municipality from acts of employees of the municipality, and thereby make clear that municipal liability is limited to action for which the municipality is actually responsible.” Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 479 (1986). A challenged practice may be deemed an official policy or custom for § 1983 municipal-liability purposes if it is a formally promulgated policy, a well-settled - 17 - custom or practice, a final decision by a municipal policymaker, or deliberately indifferent training or supervision. See Martin A. Schwartz, Section 1983 Litigation Claims & Defenses, § 7.06[A] (2013), available at Westlaw SNETLCD. As with the personal involvement element of the claims against the individual defendants, we do not rely on the element of a municipal policy or custom to resolve Ms. Schneider’s claims against the City. The district court assumed without deciding that this element was met, and based its summary judgment decisions in favor of the City on the second and/or third elements – causation and state of mind. We similarly assume without deciding that Ms. Schneider has presented sufficient evidence of a municipal policy or custom for her claims against the City.