Monell ‘Policy or Custom’ Showing Needed For Any Section 1983 Relief Against County

An award of attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs alleging due process violations by Los Angeles County in connection with the plaintiffs’ listing as potential child abusers in a statewide database was premature where the question of whether the offending conduct was a “policy or custom” of the county remained unanswered, the U.S. Supreme Court held Nov. 30 (Los Angeles County v. Humphries).

Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for a unanimous court, settled a circuit split by holding that the “policy or custom” requirement established by Monell v. New York City Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), ...