Court Opinion

ID: 9429824
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:28:02.483626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:21.845998
License: Public Domain

CHIEF Justice Burger,
concurring in the judgment.
This case presents two issues: (1) was the Director of Police, as a matter of law, sued in his official capacity? (2) does a judgment against the Director of Police in his official capacity impose liability against the city?
It does not make a fetish out of orderly procedure to say that if a claimant seeks damages from a municipality, this should be done by making it a named party defendant; that will assure the municipality has notice and an opportunity to respond. At the latest, a claimant should move at the close of the case to amend the pleadings to conform with the proof.
*474It is an odd business for this Court, the third and final tribunal, to treat the issue in a casual, offhand way; modern pleading is less rigid than in an earlier day, but it is not too much to ask that if a person or entity is to be subject to suit, the person or the entity should be named. I agree with Justice Rehnquist that it is a dubious business to encourage such shoddy pleading practices, but the courts have crossed that bridge. I join only the judgment.