Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)

E403302

U.S. Supreme Court decision landmark civil rights case

Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established when local governments can be sued as “persons” for constitutional violations under federal civil rights law.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) canonical	3
Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al.	1
Monell v. Department of Social Services	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3981296 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
Context triple: [42 U.S.C. § 1983, interpretedBy, Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)]

A. Frontiero v. Richardson
Frontiero v. Richardson is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that advanced gender equality by striking down federal benefit rules that discriminated against female military service members.
B. McDonald v. Smith
McDonald v. Smith is a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court case that held the First Amendment’s Petition Clause does not grant absolute immunity from libel suits for statements made in petitions to government officials.
C. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
D. Katzenbach v. Morgan
Katzenbach v. Morgan is a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power under the Fourteenth Amendment to prohibit certain state voting restrictions, reinforcing federal authority to protect voting rights.
E. National League of Cities v. Usery
National League of Cities v. Usery was a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case that temporarily limited Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause by holding that federal wage and hour regulations could not be applied to traditional state government functions.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
Target entity description: Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established when local governments can be sued as “persons” for constitutional violations under federal civil rights law.

A. Frontiero v. Richardson
Frontiero v. Richardson is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that advanced gender equality by striking down federal benefit rules that discriminated against female military service members.
B. McDonald v. Smith
McDonald v. Smith is a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court case that held the First Amendment’s Petition Clause does not grant absolute immunity from libel suits for statements made in petitions to government officials.
C. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
D. Katzenbach v. Morgan
Katzenbach v. Morgan is a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power under the Fourteenth Amendment to prohibit certain state voting restrictions, reinforcing federal authority to protect voting rights.
E. National League of Cities v. Usery
National League of Cities v. Usery was a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case that temporarily limited Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause by holding that federal wage and hour regulations could not be applied to traditional state government functions.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	U.S. Supreme Court decision ⓘ landmark civil rights case ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases on equal protection ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on municipal liability ⓘ United States civil rights case law ⓘ
citation	436 U.S. 658 ⓘ
concurrenceBy	Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. ⓘ linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr. Justice Thurgood Marshall ⓘ linked to: Thurgood Marshall
constitutionalProvisionInvolved	Due Process Clause ⓘ Equal Protection Clause ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1978-06-06 ⓘ
dissentBy	Chief Justice Warren E. Burger ⓘ linked to: Warren E. Burger Justice William H. Rehnquist ⓘ linked to: William H. Rehnquist
docketNumber	No. 75-1914 ⓘ
factualBackground	New York City agencies required pregnant employees to take unpaid leaves of absence before such leaves were medically necessary ⓘ
fullCaseName	Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al. ⓘ linked to: Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
geographicalScope	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
holding	local governments are "persons" subject to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ local governments are not liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory ⓘ local governments may be sued for constitutional violations caused by official policy or custom ⓘ
impact	became a foundational precedent in civil rights litigation against cities and counties ⓘ established the doctrine of municipal liability under § 1983 ⓘ limited municipal liability by rejecting respondeat superior for § 1983 claims ⓘ
joinedByInMajority	Justice Byron R. White ⓘ linked to: Byron R. White Justice Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ linked to: Harry A. Blackmun Justice John Paul Stevens ⓘ linked to: John Paul Stevens Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. ⓘ linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr. Justice Potter Stewart ⓘ linked to: Potter Stewart Justice Thurgood Marshall ⓘ linked to: Thurgood Marshall
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
jurisdictionLevel	federal ⓘ
legalIssue	interpretation of the term "person" in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ liability of local governments under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. ⓘ linked to: William J. Brennan Jr.
originatingJurisdiction	United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ⓘ
overruledPrecedent	Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961), in part ⓘ linked to: Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
petitioner	Carmen Monell ⓘ other female employees of the City of New York ⓘ
respondent	Board of Education of the City of New York ⓘ Department of Social Services of the City of New York ⓘ linked to: New York City Department of Social Services
ruleOfLaw	a single decision by a municipal policymaker may constitute official policy in some circumstances (as later elaborated in subsequent cases) ⓘ municipal liability under § 1983 attaches when execution of a government policy or custom inflicts the injury ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ
subjectMatter	constitutional torts by local governments ⓘ employment policies affecting pregnant employees ⓘ
subsequentCitation	frequently cited in § 1983 municipal liability cases ⓘ
term	October Term 1977 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

42 U.S.C. § 1983 → interpretedBy → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961) → laterOverruledInPartBy → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961) → relatedCase → Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ⓘ

Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) → fullCaseName → Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al. ⓘ

linked to: Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)

City of Canton v. Harris → clarifies → Monell v. Department of Social Services ⓘ

subject linked to: City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (1989)