# City of Canton v. Harris

> Supreme Court of the United States · February 28, 1989 · 489 U.S. 378

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431590

## Case

- **Full name:** CITY OF CANTON, OHIO v. HARRIS Et Al.
- **Court:** Supreme Court of the United States
- **Decided:** February 28, 1989
- **Citations:** 489 U.S. 378; 57 U.S.L.W. 4270; 109 S. Ct. 1197; 103 L. Ed. 2d 412; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 1200
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Brennan
- **Judges:** White, Rehnquist, Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy
- **Cited by:** 10,065 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Yellow flag:** Reported abrogated on other grounds by Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994) — not on the Supreme Court's list.
- Negative treatments: 2
- Distinguished by: 1
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431590

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that city may properly be held liable where policy is moving force behind constitutional violation
- explaining that failure to train may amount to a policy or custom that is actionable under § 1983 when “in light of the duties assigned to specific officers or employees[,] the need for more or different training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so likely to result in the vio…
- explaining that “[w]ithout some form of notice to the city, and the opportunity to conform to constitutional dictates both what it does and what it chooses not to do, the failure to train theory of liability could completely engulf Monell [v. New York City Dep’t of Soc. Servs.…
- stating that municipal training is actionable where, “in light of the duties assigned to specific officers or employees the need for more or different training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights, that the policymaker…
- holding claims “alleging that the city’s failure to provide training to municipal employees resulted in the constitutional deprivation [the plaintiff] suffered—are cognizable under § 1983, they can only yield liability against a municipality where that city’s failure to train …

## Opinion text

Justice Brennan,
concurring.
The Court’s opinion, which I join, makes clear that the Court of Appeals is free to remand this case for a new trial.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431590. Public record. Not legal advice.