Opinion ID: 195359
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Betancourt-Lebron's Motion

Text: 25 Though the district court granted summary judgment in favor of both Betancourt-Lebron and Lopez-Feliciano, appellants approach each ruling from a different direction. We, therefore, bifurcate our analysis. We begin with Betancourt-Lebron, but we do not linger long. The nisi prius roll discloses no evidence on which a claim of supervisory liability against that defendant might properly be predicated. 26 To be sure, the record contains evidence from which a jury reasonably could conclude that the remaining defendants--the police officers allegedly involved in the shooting and the coverup--abridged the decedent's civil rights. But appellants' attempts to link Betancourt-Lebron to these activities are impuissant. There is no competent proof of actual participation, or of a policy of tolerating similar violations, or of deliberate indifference. Nor is there proof of a pattern of misconduct sufficient to put the superintendent of police on inquiry notice. 5 27 In sum, considering the record in the light most congenial to appellants, we can find only tenuous assertions strung together by strands of speculation and surmise. More is required to survive summary judgment. See Fragoso, 991 F.2d at 887; Medina-Munoz, 896 F.2d at 8. Supervisory liability attaches only if a plaintiff can demonstrate by material of evidentiary quality an affirmative link between the supervisor's conduct and the underlying section 1983 violation. See Bowen 966 F.2d at 20; Pinto, 737 F.2d at 132. Here, the record is bereft of any proof, direct or inferential, of a causal link between Betancourt-Lebron's activities and the alleged deprivation of constitutional rights. It follows that the district court appropriately ordered summary judgment.