Section 1983 and Municipal Liability: Selected Issues Two Years After Monell v. Department of Social Services

Date

1980

Authors

Kramer, Bruce M.

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Publisher

Urban Lawyer

Abstract

In Monell v. Department of Social Services the United States Supreme Court embarked on a new trail into the heretofore forbidden realm of municipal liability for the deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals. The opinion, overruling Monroe v. Pape, answered many questions regarding future actions that may be brought against local governmental organizations for their alleged "constitutional torts"; however, the Supreme Court left as many unanswered questions with which the federal and state courts have had to deal in the two-year period since the decision. This article focuses on three of those unanswered questions dealing with the elemental parts of a cause of action under Section 1983: the continued viability of the Bivens cause of action arising directly under the Constitution, the parameters of official policy, rule, custom or usage which falls under the Monell-1983 rubric, and finally, the impact the type of government sued has on the available remedial relief.

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Keywords

Section 1983, Municipal liability, Monell v. Department of Social Services, Municipal law

Citation

12 Urb. Law 232