Owen v. City of Independence 445 U.S. 622 (1980)

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OWEN v. CITY OF INDEPENDENCE 445 U.S. 622 (1980)

in monell v. department of social services (1978) the Supreme Court held that municipalities may be liable under section 1983, title 42, united states code, for deprivations of constitutional rights if the deprivation results from official policy. In Owen, the Court held that municipalities may not avail themselves of the good-faith defense or qualified immunity enjoyed by individual defendants in section 1983 cases. Thus, a municipality may be liable for unconstitutional acts even if its officials reasonably believe in good faith that their acts are constitutional.

Theodore Eisenberg
(1986)

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