George Owen, the Chief of Police in the City of Independence, Missouri, was fired, without explanation and without a hearing.
Owen filed A Federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against the city, the City Manager, and the members of the City Council in their official capacities [42 USC 1983] alleging a denial of procedural and substantive due process and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
The lower Court (8th Cir.) found that the actions of the defendants DID in fact violate Owens Constitutional rights, but that the defendants had acted in good faith, and therefore granted qualified immunity.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider whether "good faith" entitles a municipality to qualified immunity . Held, qualified immunity was not available.
Owen filed A Federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against the city, the City Manager, and the members of the City Council in their official capacities [42 USC 1983] alleging a denial of procedural and substantive due process and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
The lower Court (8th Cir.) found that the actions of the defendants DID in fact violate Owens Constitutional rights, but that the defendants had acted in good faith, and therefore granted qualified immunity.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider whether "good faith" entitles a municipality to qualified immunity . Held, qualified immunity was not available.
Held: While municipalities were entitled in common law to absolute immunity for discretionary acts involved in the exercise of governmental functions, this immunity was limited to that which was necessary in order to maintain a separation of powers... to do otherwise would infringe upon powers properly vested in a coordinate and coequal branch of government, [citing 2 Dillon 753, at 862, n 31; Johnson v. State, 69 Cal. 2d 782, 794, n. 8]
HOWEVER, there was no qualified immunity available to municipalities in common law, and the court here found no rational reason for doing so.
The defendants argued they acted in good faith while violating the Constitution and should be granted qualified immunity. The Court disagreed, instead finding that a municipality has no "discretion" to violate the Federal Constitution...
In denying qualified immunity the Court explained... "when a court passes judgment on the municipality's conduct in a 1983 action, it does not seek to second-guess the "reasonableness" of the city's decision nor to interfere with the local government's resolution of competing policy considerations. Rather, it looks only to whether the municipality has conformed to the requirements of the Federal Constitution and statutes. "
Qualified immunity was denied and the case was remanded back to the 8th Circuit for trial.
Qualified immunity was denied and the case was remanded back to the 8th Circuit for trial.
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