Thompson v. City of Los Angeles, 88-5943

• Citation: 885 F.2d 1439
• Decision Date: 08 February 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-5943,88-5943
• Parties: 56 Ed. Law Rep. 97 Robert E. THOMPSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, Defendant, and County of Los Angeles, University of California at Los Angeles, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)

Page 1439

885 F.2d 1439

56 Ed. Law Rep. 97

Robert E. THOMPSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, Defendant, and County of Los Angeles, University of California at Los

Angeles, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 88-5943.

United States Court of Appeals,

Ninth Circuit.

Submitted Feb. 8, 1989 ^*.

Decided Sept. 18, 1989.

Robert E. Thompson, Hollywood, Cal., in pro per.

Kevin C. Brazile, Deputy County Counsel, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellee County of Los Angeles.

Eric S. Oto, Cotkin, Collins & Franscell, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellee Board of Regents of the University of California.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before FARRIS, FERGUSON and BEEZER, Circuit Judges.

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-Appellant Robert E. Thompson appeals pro se the district court's dismissal of his civil rights action as to defendant Board of Regents of the University of California and the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the County of Los Angeles. Thompson's complaint alleged he was not promptly arraigned after his warrantless arrest in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, and that prior to his unconditional release from jail more than five days after his arrest, he was subjected to unconstitutional prison procedures and conditions in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights and due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

On the evening of Thursday, July 18, 1985, a UCLA police officer observed an automobile with out-of-date registration tags parked at an expired parking meter. A check of the vehicle's license plate through the police communication system revealed that the automobile had been reported stolen. At about 8:40 p.m., Thompson entered the vehicle. As he began to drive away, he was immediately stopped by UCLA police officers and arrested for grand theft auto. While in the custody of the UCLA Police, Thompson was fingerprinted, photographed, and booked.

Soon after his arrest by the UCLA Police, Thompson was transported to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station, where he was again booked and charged. Thompson remained at the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station until the morning of July 19, 1985. He was then transferred to the Los Angeles County Central Jail [hereinafter "County Jail"]. Upon entering the County Jail, Thompson, in accordance with the County of Los Angeles policy, was subjected to x-rays, a blood test, and a strip search. While in the County Jail, Thompson also alleged that he was forced to spend two nights on the floor of a prison cell without a mattress. On the morning of Wednesday, July 24, 1985, Thompson was unconditionally released from county jail; he was never arraigned for grand theft auto or any other charge.

On January 6, 1986, Thompson filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983, 1981, and 1985 against the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles [hereinafter "the County"], Full-Service Car Rental System, and the Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles [hereinafter "UC"]. While Thompson named no individual defendants, he did include Does 1-20 as defendants.

Thompson's civil rights complaint alleged, inter alia, that both UC and the County had violated his Fourth Amendment rights by failing to arraign or release him within a reasonable period following his warrantless arrest, that the forced submission to x-rays, a blood test, and strip search constituted an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment and violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law, and that the County's failure to provide him with a bed in the County Jail constituted a deprivation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights. ¹

The district court subsequently disposed of all of Thompson's claims in favor of all named defendants. Specifically, with respect to Thompson's allegations against UC, the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim. As for the County, the district court initially denied the County's motion for judgment on the pleadings, but then subsequently granted the County's motion for summary judgment as to all causes of action.

II.

A dismissal for failure to state a claim is a ruling on a question of law and is thus subject to de novo review. Fort Vancouver Plywood Co. v. United States, 747 F.2d 547, 552 (9th Cir.1984). A grant of summary judgment is also reviewed de novo. Darring v. Kincheloe, 783 F.2d 874, 876 (9th Cir.1986) (citing Lojak v. Thomas, 716 F.2d 675, 677 (9th Cir.1983). With respect to the entry of summary judgment, this court must determine, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law. Ashton v. Cory, 780 F.2d 816, 818 (9th Cir.1986).

III.

The district court clearly did not err in dismissing all of Thompson's claims against UC since, as a state instrumentality for Eleventh Amendment purposes, it is not subject to a suit for damages under Sec. 1983. Section 1983 provides, in relevant part, that "every person who subjects or causes to be subjected any citizen of the United States ... to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party in an action at law, suit in equity or other proper proceeding to redress." Accordingly, only those governmental entities which are "persons" within the meaning of Sec. 1983 can be held liable under Sec. 1983. While it is well-settled that local governmental bodies such as municipalities and counties are "persons" within the meaning of Sec. 1983, see Monell v. New York City Dep't of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the Supreme Court recently declared that "States or governmental entities that are considered 'arms of the state' for Eleventh Amendment purposes" are not persons within the meaning of Sec. 1983. Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 2311, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989).

It has long been established that UC is an instrumentality of the state for purposes of the Eleventh Amendment. Hamilton v. Regents, 293 U.S. 245, 257, 55 S.Ct. 197, 201-02, 79 L.Ed. 343 (1934); Jackson v. Hayakawa, 682 F.2d 1344, 1350 (9th Cir.1982); In re Holoholo, 512 F.Supp. 889, 395 (D.Haw.1981). Since UC is an arm of the state under the Eleventh Amendment, it follows from Will that UC is not a "person" within the meaning of Sec. 1983. Accordingly, the district court's dismissal of Thompson's Sec. 1983 claims against UC must be affirmed.

IV.

Before discussing Thompson's individual constitutional claims against the County, we first shall review briefly the general principles governing Sec. 1983 actions against local governmental entities. As noted above, the Supreme Court in Monell held that local governmental bodies, such as counties, are persons under Sec. 1983 and therefore may be sued under the statute for constitutional injuries. Monell went on to state, however, that a local governmental body cannot be found liable under Sec. 1983 on a respondeat superior theory; liability may be imposed only if the plaintiff establishes that his injuries were inflicted pursuant to an official county policy or custom. See Monell, 436 U.S. at 690-94, 98 S.Ct. at 2035-38; Gobel v. Maricopa County, 867 F.2d 1201, 1206 (9th Cir.1989).

While a rule or regulation promulgated, adopted, or ratified by a local governmental entity's legislative body unquestionably satisfies Monell 's policy requirement, see Monell, 436 U.S. at 690, 98 S.Ct. at 2035-36, a "policy" within the meaning of Sec. 1983 is not limited to official legislative action. Indeed, a decision properly made by a local governmental entity's authorized decisionmaker--i.e., an official who "possesses final authority to establish [local government] policy with respect to the [challenged] action"--may constitute official policy. Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 481, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 1299, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986) (plurality opinion). "Authority to make municipal policy may be granted directly by legislative enactment or may be delegated by an official who possesses such authority, and of course whether an official had final policymaking authority is a question of state law." City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 108 S.Ct. 915, 924, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988) (plurality opinion) (quoting Pembaur, 475 U.S. at 483, 106 S.Ct. at 1300). ²

With respect to custom, the Court in Monell asserted that "although the touchstone of the Sec. 1983 action against a government body is an allegation that official policy is responsible for a deprivation of rights protected by the Constitution, local governments ... by the very terms of the statute, may be sued for constitutional deprivations visited pursuant to governmental 'custom' even though such a custom has not received formal approval through the body's official decision-making channels." Monell, 436 U.S. at 690-91, 98 S.Ct. at 2035-36. Consistent with the commonly understood meaning of custom, proof of random acts or isolated events are insufficient to establish custom. Palmer v. City of San Antonio, 810 F.2d 514, 516 (5th Cir.1987); Depew v. City of St. Mary's, 787 F.2d 1496, 1499 (11th Cir.1986). Only if a plaintiff shows that his injury resulted from a "permanent and well-settled" practice may liability attach for injury resulting from a local government custom. See Praprotnik, 108 S.Ct. at 926 (quoting Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 168, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1614, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970) ("a plaintiff may be able to prove the existence of a widespread practice that, although not authorized by written law or express municipal policy, is 'so permanent and well-settled as to constitute a custom or usage with the force of law' ").

If such a showing is made, however, a local government may be liable...