United States Supreme Court
McMILLIAN v. MONROE COUNTY, ALABAMA, (1997)
No. 96-542
Argued: March 18, 1997 Decided: June 2, 1997
After spending six years on Alabamas death row, petitioners capital murder conviction was reversed on the ground that the State had suppressed exculpatory evidence. He then sued respondent Monroe County and others under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the allegedly unconstitutional actions of, inter alios, County Sheriff Tom Tate in suppressing the evidence. A county is liable under §1983 for those actions of its sheriff that constitute county "policy." Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694. The District Court dismissed the claims, holding that Tates unlawful acts did not represent Monroe Countys policy, because an Alabama county has no authority to make law enforcement policy. The Court of Appeals affirmed, agreeing that a sheriff acting in his law enforcement capacity is not a policymaker for the county.

Held: Alabama sheriffs, when executing their law enforcement duties, represent the State of Alabama, not their counties. Pp. 3-16.

(a) In determining a local governments §1983 liability, a courts task is to identify those

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