Monell et al. v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York et al.

Decided June 6, 1978. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1914 · 436 U.S. 658 (1978) · Cited 41,449 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Moor v. County of Alameda · 411 U.S. 693 (1973)
• City of Kenosha v. Bruno · 412 U.S. 507 (1973)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Aldinger v. Howard · 427 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Runyon v. McCrary · 427 U.S. 160 (1976)
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• Douglas v. City of Jeannette · 319 U.S. 157 (1943)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Barron Ex Rel. Tiernan v. Mayor of Baltimore · 32 U.S. 243 (1833)
• Adamson v. California · 332 U.S. 46 (1947)
• Girouard v. United States · 328 U.S. 61 (1946)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)
• Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati · 475 U.S. 469 (1986)
• Board of the County Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown · 520 U.S. 397 (1997)
• Quern v. Jordan · 440 U.S. 332 (1979)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• Los Angeles County v. Humphries · 562 U.S. 29 (2010)
• City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik · 485 U.S. 112 (1988)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• City of Canton v. Harris · 489 U.S. 378 (1989)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• City of Springfield v. Kibbe · 480 U.S. 257 (1987)
• McMillian v. Monroe County · 520 U.S. 781 (1997)
• Collins v. City of Harker Heights · 503 U.S. 115 (1992)
• Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit · 507 U.S. 163 (1993)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Brandon v. Holt · 469 U.S. 464 (1985)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• Lozman v. Riviera Beach · 585 U.S. 87 (2018)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Cook County v. United States Ex Rel. Chandler · 538 U.S. 119 (2003)
• Ngiraingas v. Sanchez · 495 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• City of Los Angeles v. Heller · 475 U.S. 796 (1986)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Herring v. United States · 555 U.S. 135 (2009)
• Swint v. Chambers County Commission · 514 U.S. 35 (1995)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).