Court Opinion

ID: 9562723
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:32:56.534185+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:29.786614
License: Public Domain

QUINN, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I join the partial dissent of Justice Rovira with respect to Part V of the court’s opinion. Under Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), a local governing body, such as a university, may be subject to § 1983 liability, not under a theory of respondeat superior, but on the basis of some official governmental policy or.custom that results in a deprivation of constitutional rights, privileges, or immunities. See generally Bennett v. City of Slidell, 728 F.2d 762 (5th Cir.) (en banc), reh’g denied, 735 F.2d 861 (5th Cir.1984). Because it is the official governmental policy or custom that constitutes the basis of the governing body’s liability, the existence and general character of that policy or custom must be alleged in the § 1983 complaint. The plaintiff in his complaint has failed to allege any university policy or custom which cáused or resulted in the allegedly unconstitutional conduct underlying his § 1983 claim. The complaint against the university was therefore properly dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.