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Buhr v. Flathead County12/8/1994
378, 390, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1205, 103 L.Ed.2d 412, 427.
City of Canton involved a claimant, Harris, who was brought to a police station in an incoherent state and, after being taken inside, slumped to the floor where the police allowed her to remain without any medical attention. One hour later, Harris was released and taken to a hospital via an ambulance provided by her family. She was diagnosed with severe emotional ailments and hospitalized. City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 381, 109 S.Ct. at 1201. Harris subsequently brought an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming the city was liable for violation of her right to receive necessary medical attention while in police custody.
Harris claimed that Canton provided police shift commanders sole discretion, without any special training beyond first-aid, to determine when to "summon medical care for an injured detainee." City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 381-82, 109 S.Ct. at 1201. Her case went to the jury under a reckless, intentional or with gross negligence standard and the jury found in her favor. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the imposition of municipal liability under § 1983 where a plaintiff proves that a municipality, acting recklessly, intentionally or with gross negligence, failed to train its police force, and where that failure resulted in a deprivation of constitutional rights that was substantially likely to result. City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 385, 109 S.Ct. at 1203.
The United States Supreme Court rejected the Circuit Court's "overly broad rule" for imposing a municipal liability under § 1983 and adopted the "deliberate indifference" standard. City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 388, 109 S.Ct. at 1204. It determined that "only where a failure to train reflects a `deliberate' or `conscious' choice by a municipality . . . can a city be liable for such a failure under § 1983." City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 389, 109 S.Ct. at 1205. The focus of the inquiry "must be on the adequacy of the training program in relation to the tasks the particular officers must perform." City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 390, 109 S.Ct. at 1205. The Court then stated:
either will it suffice to prove that an injury or accident could have been avoided if an officer had had better or more training, sufficient to equip him to avoid the particular injury-causing conduct. Such a claim could be made about almost any encounter resulting in injury, yet not condemn the adequacy of the program to enable officers to respond properly to the usual and recurring situations with which they must deal.
City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 391, 109 S.Ct. at 1206 (emphasis added).
Following the City of Canton, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the question of when a policy exhibits deliberate indifference in Pearce. In Pearce, an arrestee who remained incarcerated for 114 days before being arraigned, sued the county and the sheriff alleging violations under § 1983. Pearce, 954 F.2d at 1472. The arrestee's name was dropped from the booking sheet through an error by the court clerk who prepared the docket sheet. Pearce, 954 F.2d at 1473. While the sheriff was aware that inmates were not arraigned because of mistakes similar to this, the sheriff's department failed to develop internal procedures to guard against mistakes and chose to rely on the inmates, their attorneys, or family members. Pearce, 954 F.2d at 1473. The evidence demonstrated, however, that some inmates were unable to communicate with their lawyers or family members and that the sheriff knew of nineteen incidents where inmates missed arraignments due to mistakes by jail and court personnel. Pearce, 954 F.2d at 1478.
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