LandMark Publications Municipal Liability and 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Volume 1 lit

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss municipal liability and 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Volume 1 of the casebook covers the District of Columbia Circuit and the First through the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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"[A] municipality can be held liable under Monell, even when its officers are not, unless such a finding would create an inconsistent verdict." Thomas v. Cook Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't, 604 F.3d 293, 305 (7th Cir. 2010) (emphasis in original). Where it is possible for the Monell defendant to cause constitutional harm without any individual defendant violating the plaintiff's rights, it is not inconsistent for a jury to find only the Monell defendant liable. See Speer v. City of Wynne, 276 F.3d 980, 985-86 (8th Cir. 2002) ("[S]ituations may arise where the combined actions of multiple officials or employees may give rise to a constitutional violation, supporting municipal liability, but where no one individual's actions are sufficient to establish personal liability for the violation."); Fairley v. Luman, 281 F.3d 913, 917 (9th Cir. 2002) ("If a plaintiff establishes he suffered a constitutional injury by the City, the fact that individual officers are exonerated is immaterial to liability under § 1983." (emphasis in original)); Barrett v. Orange Cty. Human Rights Comm'n, 194 F.3d 341, 350 (2d Cir. 1999) ("[U]nder Monell[,] municipal liability for constitutional injuries may be found to exist even in the absence of individual liability, at least so long as the injuries complained of are not solely attributable to the actions of named individual defendants."). But where a finding for the individual defendant necessarily means the plaintiff suffered no constitutional deprivation, there is no basis for a Monell claim, and thus it too must fall. See Mulholland v. Gov't Cnty. of Berks, Pa., 706 F.3d 227, 238 n.15 (3d Cir. 2013) ("It is well-settled that, if there is no violation in the first place, there can be no derivative municipal claim.") (emphasis added).

Mervilus v. Union County, 73 F. 4th 185 (3rd Cir. 2023)