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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 summary judgment, finding that Dixon failed to establish a material factual dispute regarding whether Sonoma County had a policy or custom of violating the substantive due process rights of civil detainees.

Robert Dixon, proceeding without an attorney, challenged a district court's grant of summary judgment in his civil rights lawsuit against Sonoma County. Dixon claimed the county maintained a policy or custom of providing inadequate housing to pre-commitment civil detainees in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process protections. The appeals court reviewed the case from scratch and found no genuine factual dispute that would have required a trial, affirming the lower court's decision.

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

Key issues

  • Municipal liability for alleged policy or custom violating detainee rights
  • Due process protections for pre-commitment civil detainees
  • Adequacy of housing conditions in county detention facility
  • Standard for proving a pattern of unconstitutional conduct

Procedural posture

The case came before the appeals court on Dixon's pro se appeal from summary judgment granted by the district court in a federal civil rights action.

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.