Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)

E403302

U.S. Supreme Court decision landmark civil rights case

Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established when local governments can be sued as “persons” for constitutional violations under federal civil rights law.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) canonical	3
Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al.	1
Monell v. Department of Social Services	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	U.S. Supreme Court decision ⓘ landmark civil rights case ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases on equal protection ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on municipal liability ⓘ United States civil rights case law ⓘ
citation	436 U.S. 658 ⓘ
concurrenceBy	Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Thurgood Marshall ⓘ surface form: Justice Thurgood Marshall
constitutionalProvisionInvolved	Due Process Clause ⓘ Equal Protection Clause ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1978-06-06 ⓘ
dissentBy	Warren E. Burger ⓘ surface form: Chief Justice Warren E. Burger William H. Rehnquist ⓘ surface form: Justice William H. Rehnquist
docketNumber	No. 75-1914 ⓘ
factualBackground	New York City agencies required pregnant employees to take unpaid leaves of absence before such leaves were medically necessary ⓘ
fullCaseName	Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al.
geographicalScope	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
holding	local governments are "persons" subject to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ local governments are not liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory ⓘ local governments may be sued for constitutional violations caused by official policy or custom ⓘ
impact	became a foundational precedent in civil rights litigation against cities and counties ⓘ established the doctrine of municipal liability under § 1983 ⓘ limited municipal liability by rejecting respondeat superior for § 1983 claims ⓘ
joinedByInMajority	Byron R. White ⓘ surface form: Justice Byron R. White Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ surface form: Justice Harry A. Blackmun John Paul Stevens ⓘ surface form: Justice John Paul Stevens Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Potter Stewart ⓘ surface form: Justice Potter Stewart Thurgood Marshall ⓘ surface form: Justice Thurgood Marshall
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
jurisdictionLevel	federal ⓘ
legalIssue	interpretation of the term "person" in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ liability of local governments under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
originatingJurisdiction	United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ⓘ
overruledPrecedent	Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961) ⓘ surface form: Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961), in part
petitioner	Carmen Monell ⓘ other female employees of the City of New York ⓘ
respondent	Board of Education of the City of New York ⓘ New York City Department of Social Services ⓘ surface form: Department of Social Services of the City of New York
ruleOfLaw	a single decision by a municipal policymaker may constitute official policy in some circumstances (as later elaborated in subsequent cases) ⓘ municipal liability under § 1983 attaches when execution of a government policy or custom inflicts the injury ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ
subjectMatter	constitutional torts by local governments ⓘ employment policies affecting pregnant employees ⓘ
subsequentCitation	frequently cited in § 1983 municipal liability cases ⓘ
term	October Term 1977 ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

42 U.S.C. § 1983 → interpretedBy → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961) → laterOverruledInPartBy → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961) → relatedCase → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) → fullCaseName → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al.

City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (1989) → clarifies → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

subject surface form: City of Canton v. Harris

this entity surface form: Monell v. Department of Social Services