Webb v. City of Maplewood

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling that the City was not immune from a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit in a putative class action alleging that the City's policy or custom of automatically issuing arrest warrants was unconstitutional. In this case, the City automatically issues an arrest warrant whenever someone ticketed for violating its traffic and vehicle laws fails to pay a fine or appear in court. The court held that municipalities, unlike States, did not enjoy a constitutionally protected immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment; the court rejected the City's contention that it enacted or maintained the contested practices as an arm of the State; and the court rejected the City's contention that it was also immune from suit since all of the individuals the complaint identified as participating in the contested practices were personally immune from suit. The court has long held that a municipality may be held liable for its unconstitutional policy or custom even when no official has been found personally liable for his conduct under the policy or custom. View "Webb v. City of Maplewood" on Justia Law