Abstract

This Note proposes that courts should adopt a standard for judging state supervision of municipal delegations analogous to the standards for "supervisory liability" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as developed by Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of New York and subsequent case law. Specifically, this Note proposes that a state officer's action or inaction should be considered a violation of federal law for the purposes of seeking injunctive relief when the officer's supervision of delegated municipal power demonstrates a deliberate indifference to municipal violations of federal rights. Further, this Note argues that a number of courts have already applied an analogous standard, and could easily adopt a doctrine explicitly based on supervisory liability within the bounds of established precedent.

This Note contributes to the literature in three ways. Part I of this Note defines and describes the targeted context, provides examples of state/municipal delegation, discusses the underlying tension between vindicating federal rights and respecting states' rights to structure their own internal governance, and observes that courts have taken a nuanced approach to resolving this tension analogous to § 1983's standards supervisory liability. Part II describes judicial approaches to state/municipal liability and analyzes two proposed theoretical frameworks. Part III examines the history and function of § 1983's "supervisory liability" standards, looks at recent state/municipal delegation cases through the lens of supervisory liability, and argues for the adoption of an analogous standard to govern state/municipal delegation.

Document Type

Note

Publication Date

2018

Publication Information

50 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 395-443 (2018)

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