## Facts

- Independence, Missouri investigated alleged wrongdoing in its police department.
- The City Council directed that investigative reports be released to the media, sent to the county prosecutor for grand jury consideration, and that the City Manager take action against implicated persons.
- Acting under the council’s directive, the City Manager discharged George D. Owen, the Chief of Police.
- Owen received written notice referencing a city charter provision but was not given reasons for the discharge and received no pre-termination hearing.
- Owen alleged city officials created and disseminated false and defamatory impressions about him in connection with his termination, harming his reputation and employment prospects and implicating a Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest.
- Owen sued the City, the City Manager, and City Council members in their official capacities under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, seeking declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief for due process violations.
- The district court entered judgment for defendants after a bench trial.
- The Eighth Circuit concluded Owen’s Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated but held all defendants, including the City, were protected by qualified immunity based on officials’ good faith.

## Issues

1. Whether a municipality may assert qualified immunity in a § 1983 damages action by relying on the good faith of its officers for the municipality’s own constitutional violations.
2. Whether § 1983 incorporates a municipal immunity defense absent a firmly established common-law tradition and statutory support.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the grant of qualified immunity to the City.
- The Court held that municipalities have no immunity from damages liability under § 1983 for their constitutional violations.
- The Court further held that a municipality may not assert the good faith of its officers as a defense to municipal liability under § 1983.
- The case proceeded on the premise, established in the lower court, that Owen suffered a Fourteenth Amendment violation; the Supreme Court addressed only the availability of a municipal good-faith defense.

## Legal Principles

- A municipality is a “person” subject to damages liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for constitutional deprivations caused by municipal action.
- § 1983’s text is unqualified and does not provide a municipal qualified immunity defense based on officers’ good faith.
- Immunities may be implied under § 1983 only when they were well established at common law and compatible with § 1983’s remedial purposes; no such tradition supports municipal qualified immunity.
- § 1983 serves compensatory and deterrent aims; allowing municipalities to avoid damages based on good faith would weaken both.
- Policy grounds supporting qualified immunity for individual officials (protecting discretionary decision-making from personal liability) do not justify a similar defense for municipalities, which can spread risk and internalize compliance costs.
- Procedural due process may require an opportunity to be heard when a government employer publicly disseminates false, stigmatizing allegations in connection with termination that foreclose future employment opportunities.

## Conclusion

The Court held that municipalities may be held liable for damages under § 1983 for their constitutional violations and cannot avoid liability by invoking qualified immunity or the good faith of their officials, preserving § 1983’s compensatory and deterrent functions.


Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622 (1980)