Owen v. City of Independence, Missouri, et al.

Decided April 16, 1980. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-1779 · 445 U.S. 622 (1980) · Cited 2,083 times

Holding

A municipality has no immunity from liability under 1983 flowing from its constitutional violations and may not assert the good faith of its officers as a defense to such liability.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“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.

• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency · 440 U.S. 391 (1979)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• O'Connor v. Donaldson · 422 U.S. 563 (1975)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Bishop v. Wood · 426 U.S. 341 (1976)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Dalehite v. United States · 346 U.S. 15 (1953)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Wisconsin v. Constantineau · 400 U.S. 433 (1971)
• Martinez v. California · 444 U.S. 277 (1980)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• Codd v. Velger · 429 U.S. 624 (1977)
• City of Kenosha v. Bruno · 412 U.S. 507 (1973)
• Robertson v. Wegmann · 436 U.S. 584 (1978)
• United States & Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Railway Express Co. · 265 U.S. 425 (1924)

Cited by

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

• City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik · 485 U.S. 112 (1988)
• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)
• Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati · 475 U.S. 469 (1986)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Smith · 496 U.S. 167 (1990)
• Brandon v. Holt · 469 U.S. 464 (1985)
• Board of the County Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown · 520 U.S. 397 (1997)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Gomez v. Toledo · 446 U.S. 635 (1980)
• Howlett Ex Rel. Howlett v. Rose · 496 U.S. 356 (1990)
• Maine v. Thiboutot · 448 U.S. 1 (1980)
• Richardson v. McKnight · 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Dennis v. Sparks · 449 U.S. 24 (1980)
• Wyatt v. Cole · 504 U.S. 158 (1992)
• San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. City of San Diego · 450 U.S. 621 (1981)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Ngiraingas v. Sanchez · 495 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
• Allen v. McCurry · 449 U.S. 90 (1980)
• Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit · 507 U.S. 163 (1993)
• Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper · 447 U.S. 752 (1980)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Bogan v. Scott-Harris · 523 U.S. 44 (1998)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1980). 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).