## Facts

- Tracey Thurman and her minor son alleged that Torrington police repeatedly received reports that Tracey’s estranged husband, Charles Thurman, threatened to kill or maim Tracey and the child.
- Tracey and others allegedly attempted to file complaints and obtain police assistance in response to threats and related incidents, but officers allegedly ignored, rejected, or failed to act on those complaints.
- In October–November 1982, Charles allegedly assaulted Tracey and later forcibly removed the child from a residence; when Tracey and others attempted to file complaints, they were allegedly rebuffed.
- Over the following months, Tracey allegedly made repeated contacts reporting threats and violations of protective measures, but police allegedly provided delayed or ineffective responses.
- On June 10, 1983, after Tracey called police about Charles’s presence, an officer allegedly arrived about 25 minutes later and, upon arrival, allegedly remained in his car while Charles chased Tracey, pulled her hair, and stabbed her 13 times, initially making no effort to arrest him.
- Plaintiffs alleged this was part of a broader pattern in which the City and its police provided inferior protection in domestic violence situations, particularly involving women abused by husbands or former husbands.

## Issues

1. Whether the complaint plausibly alleged an Equal Protection Clause violation based on discriminatory failure to provide police protection in domestic violence cases.
2. Whether the allegations sufficiently pleaded municipal liability under § 1983 by asserting an official policy, custom, or administrative classification causing the unequal protection.
3. Whether the minor child stated a federal civil-rights claim independent of his mother’s allegations.
4. Whether the court should exercise pendent jurisdiction over a state-law municipal-liability claim.

## Decision

- The court denied the City’s motion to dismiss Tracey Thurman’s federal equal protection claim under § 1983, concluding the complaint plausibly alleged discriminatory non-enforcement and a municipal policy or custom.
- The court granted the motion to dismiss the minor child’s federal civil-rights claims, finding insufficient allegations of unequal protection or a pattern of police inaction directed at him.
- The court declined to exercise pendent jurisdiction over the distinct state-law claim seeking to impose municipal liability for employees’ tortious acts.

## Legal Principles

- On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court assumes well-pleaded factual allegations are true and asks whether the plaintiff could prove any set of facts entitling relief.
- Equal protection claims may be based on sex-based discrimination and on discriminatory provision of governmental services, including police protection.
- Alleged systematic police non-enforcement of laws in domestic violence contexts may state an equal protection claim when it plausibly reflects differential treatment of a protected class compared to similarly situated victims of non-domestic violence.
- A municipality is liable under § 1983 only if the constitutional violation was caused by an official policy, custom, or practice attributable to the municipality.
- A plaintiff must allege facts supporting personal deprivation of equal protection; presence at an incident alone is insufficient without allegations tying the municipal practice to the child as a claimant.
- Federal courts may decline pendent jurisdiction over state-law claims, particularly where the state theory is distinct from the federal civil-rights claims.

## Conclusion

The court permitted Tracey Thurman to proceed on a § 1983 equal protection theory that the City maintained a discriminatory policy or custom of under-enforcing domestic violence protections against battered women, but dismissed the child’s federal claims for lack of individualized allegations and declined to hear a separate state-law municipal-liability claim.


Thurman v. City of Torrington, 595 F. Supp. 1521 (D. Conn. 1984)