Court Opinion

ID: 9482646
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:56:25.720537+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:07.075090
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment of the court. The complexities of civil rights litigation quite naturally produce a yearning for a concise definition or a bright-line rule with respect to the identity of a municipal policymaker. Today, however, local governmental structures take many shapes, and the demands of contemporary municipal governance probably will expand rather than contract the possibilities in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court in Jett v. Dallas Independent School District, 491 U.S. 701, 737, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 2723, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989), are as precise as we have a right to expect at this point in the country’s development. We must regard the matter as one of state law and review “the relevant legal materials, including state and local positive law, as well as ‘ “custom or usage” having the force of law.’ ” Id. (quoting St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 124 n. 1, 108 S.Ct. 915, 924 n. 1, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988)) (emphasis added). We are told how to identify the policymaker. Beyond that, the matter must necessarily be handled in case by case adjudication.
The court’s estimation of the situation before us is no doubt correct. Mr. Rice’s actions cannot be characterized as the policy of the City of Chicago. His authority was to administer the department in accordance with state law and municipal ordinances. Under the facts of this case, he can claim no other source of authority and we need not speculate as to whether, on other facts, a custom or usage having the force of law might make him, under the guidance of Jett, a policymaker.