Opinion ID: 200002
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Principles of Liability

Text: 17 A person may recover damages from a state or local official who, while acting under color of state law, commits a constitutional tort. 42 U.S.C. § 1983; 13 see also Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 389, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971) (imposing similar liability on federal officers). The excessive use of force by a police officer against an arrestee is such a tort. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395-396 & n. 10, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989). An officer may be held liable not only for his personal use of excessive force, but also for his failure to intervene in appropriate circumstances to protect an arrestee from the excessive use of force by his fellow officers. Gaudreault v. Municipality of Salem, 923 F.2d 203, 207 n. 3 (1st Cir.1990). Liability will attach to the municipal employer where its failure to properly train its officers amounts to deliberate indifference to the rights of persons with whom the police come into contact, and where a specific deficiency in training is the moving force behind a constitutional injury. City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 388-389, 391, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989). A supervisory officer may be held liable for the behavior of his subordinate officers where his action or inaction [is] affirmative[ly] link[ed] ... to that behavior in the sense that it could be characterized as `supervisory encouragement, condonation or acquiescence' or `gross negligence amounting to deliberate indifference.' Lipsett v. University of P.R., 864 F.2d 881, 902 (1st Cir.1988) (internal citation omitted). If, however, the officer has inflicted no constitutional harm, neither the municipality nor the supervisor can be held liable. City of Los Angeles v. Heller, 475 U.S. 796, 799, 106 S.Ct. 1571, 89 L.Ed.2d 806 (1986) (per curiam).