Los Angeles County, California, et al. v. Peter Woods Nyarecha, et al.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s official policy requires deputy officers to regularly check inmates’ cells for signs of life. It is undisputed that the Department trains deputies on that policy. But plaintiffs contend that the Department has an unwritten custom or practice of not looking for signs of life—i.e., of deviating from official policy and training. They sued the Department and the County of Los Angeles under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) on that theory. The district court granted summary judgment against them, but the Ninth Circuit reversed. The questions presented are:

1. Whether the Ninth Circuit departed from this Court’s precedent, and impermissibly expanded municipal liability, by holding that video of inmate cell checks from a single cell block on a single night is enough to establish a custom or practice subjecting a county to Monell liability.

2. Whether conduct by multiple deputies on a single night constitutes a “single incident” for purposes of the rule that generally, “[p]roof of a single incident of unconstitutional activity is not sufficient to impose liability under Monell,” City of Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 823-24 (1985).