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DIXON v. COUNTY OF SONOMA (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-08-25No. No. 20-16620

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment because Dixon did not create a genuine issue of material fact regarding the existence of a county policy or custom that violated the constitutional rights of civil detainees.

Robert Dixon, appearing without counsel, appealed a district court's grant of summary judgment in his civil rights lawsuit against Sonoma County. Dixon alleged that the county maintained a policy or custom of providing inadequate housing to pre-commitment detainees in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's protections. The appellate court affirmed the lower court's decision, finding that Dixon failed to establish a genuine factual dispute regarding whether any such county policy or custom existed.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether municipal liability under § 1983 requires proof of an official policy or custom
  • What constitutional protections apply to pre-commitment civil detainees
  • Whether isolated incidents of inadequate conditions can establish municipal liability

Procedural posture

Dixon appealed pro se from the district court's entry of summary judgment in his § 1983 action challenging housing conditions in a county detention facility.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Robert Dixon appeals pro se from the district courts summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging a policy of inadequate housing under the Fourteenth Amendment while he was a pre-commitment civil detainee. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918, 926 (9th Cir. 2004). We affirm.

The district court properly granted summary judgment because Dixon failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the County of Sonoma had a policy or custom of violating the substantive due process rights of civil detainees in the Countys Main Adult Detention Facility. See Monell v. Dept of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) (municipal liability under § 1983 requires execution of policy or custom that inflicts plaintiffs constitutional injury); Jones, 393 F.3d at 932 (a pre-commitment detainee is “entitled to protections at least as great as those afforded to a civilly committed individual and at least as great as those afforded to an individual accused but not convicted of a crime”); Trevino v. Gates, 99 F.3d 911, 918 (9th Cir. 1996) (“Liability for improper custom may not be predicated on isolated or sporadic incidents; it must be founded upon practices of sufficient duration, frequency and consistency that the conduct has become a traditional method of carrying out policy.”).

We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).

Dixons motion for appointment of counsel (Docket Entry No. 16) is denied.

AFFIRMED.