Henry

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT; Dissent by Judge RYMER.

“Take me to your magistrate,” Henry insisted, and the battle was on. It seems that Shasta County has a group of zealous citizens intent on ensuring that they and their associates are at all times afforded the full extent of their legal rights — to the last jot and tittle — and that all laws that affect them are strictly complied with, even in the case of minor vehicle code infractions. At the same time, according to the record as we must view it, the sheriff and certain other law *514 enforcement officers who work in Shasta County take quite a different view of the legal process. As they see it, they are the law in Shasta County.

I. Facts

At 9:55 p.m. on May 13, 1993, Rolland Richard Henry was stopped by California Highway Patrol Officer A.C. Chaidez because the tail lights on his ear were not functioning. Together, Henry and Chaidez checked the automobile’s fuses, which they found to be in working order. Chaidez then issued Henry a “Notice to Appear,” i.e., a traffic ticket, for the broken tail lights and for failing to wear his seat belt. See Cal. Veh.Code §§ 24252(a), 27315(d). When Chaidez asked Henry to sign the ticket,…

dissenting.

The issue in this case is not whether Henry’s treatment at the Shasta County Jail was awful: it was awful. The issue is whether the County and Sheriff Pope (or the arresting officers) had anything to do with it. There is no evidence they did. For this reason I part company with the majority opinion.

I

Liberally construed, Henry contends that the County and Sheriff Pope were responsible for his continuing illegal arrest and incarceration once they accepted him into their custody. 1 It is well settled that the County and the Sheriff in his official capacity can be held liable under § 1983 only if they deprived Henry of a constitutional right as a result of an official policy or custom. Monell v. Department of Soc. Servs. of New York, 436 U.S. 658 , 98 S.Ct. 2018 , 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).

As I piece it together, Henry posits four unconstitutional policies: a policy not to have magistrates available at night; a policy to delay magistrate appearances overnight; a policy not to assist an arrestee in contacting a magistrate; and a policy to delay magistrate appearances, and to retaliate against detainees who demand to see a magistrate, by incarcerating them in the safety…