Opinion ID: 595259
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Monell and its progeny.

Text: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides, in part, that: 11 Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 12 In Monell, the Supreme Court held that municipalities are persons subject to damages liability under section 1983 where action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature cause[s] a constitutional tort. 436 U.S. at 691, 98 S.Ct. at 2036. The Court made clear that the municipality itself must cause the constitutional deprivation and that a city may not be held vicariously liable for the unconstitutional acts of its employees under the theory of respondeat superior. Id.; accord City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 385, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1203, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989) (requiring a direct causal link between a municipal policy or custom and the alleged constitutional deprivation). 13 A section 1983 plaintiff may establish municipal liability in one of three ways. First, the plaintiff may prove that a city employee committed the alleged constitutional violation pursuant to a formal governmental policy or a longstanding practice or custom which constitutes the 'standard operating procedure' of the local governmental entity. Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 737, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 2723, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989) (Jett ) (internal quotation omitted); accord Monell, 436 U.S. at 690-91, 98 S.Ct. at 2035-36. Second, the plaintiff may establish that the individual who committed the constitutional tort was an official with final policy-making authority and that the challenged action itself thus constituted an act of official governmental policy. See Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 480-81, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 1298-99, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986) (Pembaur); McKinley v. City of Eloy, 705 F.2d 1110, 1116 (9th Cir.1983). Whether a particular official has final policy-making authority is a question of state law. See Jett, 491 U.S. at 737, 109 S.Ct. at 2723; City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 123-24, 108 S.Ct. 915, 924, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988) (plurality opinion) (Praprotnik ). Third, the plaintiff may prove that an official with final policy-making authority ratified a subordinate's unconstitutional decision or action and the basis for it. See Praprotnik, 485 U.S. at 127, 108 S.Ct. at 926; Hammond v. County of Madera, 859 F.2d 797, 801-02 (9th Cir.1988) (Hammond ). 14