Moreno Avalos Cortez Mauricio Robert Avalos Terry Leach Lydia Avalos Guillermo Avalos Kathy Granillo v. County of Los Angeles

The issue in this case is whether the actions of a California sheriff are attributable to the county for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . Since McMillian v. Monroe County, 520 U.S. 781 , 117 S.Ct. 1734 , 138 L.Ed.2d 1 (1997), we have had several occasions to address this question and have invariably answered it in the affirmative. Consistent with Streit v. County of Los Angeles, 236 F.3d 552 (9th Cir.2001), we hold that the Los Angeles County Sheriff (“Sheriff’) acts as the final policymaker for the County of Los Angeles (“County”) in establishing and implementing policies and procedures for the safekeeping of inmates in the county jail. Accordingly, we affirm the District Court’s denial of the County’s motion to dismiss and hold that the County is subject to § 1983 liability as a “person” acting under color of state law.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 25,1999, Mauricio Avalos (“Ava-los”) was beaten to death by five of his cell mates while incarcerated in the Los Ange-les County Jail. Avalos was originally assigned to a cell in the general population awaiting trial for armed robbery. However, he was subsequently transferred to a special gang unit when prison officials learned that…