County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court

Introduction

Plaintiff Rebecca Peters alleges that after plaintiff posted bail, the Sheriff of Los Angeles County and his deputies nevertheless detained plaintiff in the Los Angeles County jail for an additional 10 days, in reliance on a warrant which they reasonably should have known did not relate to her. Plaintiff seeks damages from the County of Los Angeles under the Federal Civil Rights Act, 42 United States Code section 1983 (hereinafter section 1983). A local entity such as the county can be liable under section 1983 only if the deprivation of rights was caused by an official policy or custom of the county, set by the county’s lawmakers or by an official who speaks with final policymaking authority for the county. We hold plaintiff fails to plead a valid cause of action because, in setting the policies governing release of prisoners from the Los Angeles County jail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff acts as a state official rather than a policymaking official for the County of Los Angeles. (See McMillian v. Monroe County (1997) 520 U.S. 781 [ 117 S.Ct. 1734 , 138 L.Ed.2d 1 ] (McMillian) [county sheriff in Alabama held to be a state official when acting in his law…