Michael Maschmeier v. Michael Scott’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A municipal official is not a final policymaker when his or her decisions are subject to meaningful administrative review. Scala , 116 F.3d at 1401 . Automatic review of the official's decisions is not required for the review to be meaningful; an opportunity for meaningful review is sufficient. Id. at 1402 . When a council or board has the power to review and reverse a municipal official's decision, final policymaking authority does not vest in the official. See Id. (holding that a city manager and his subordinate were not final policymakers in regard to plaintiff's termination because a civil service board had the authority to review the termination); Quinn v. Monroe County , 330 F.3d 1320 , 1326 (11th Cir. 2003) (finding that the career services council's power to review the county administrator's termination decision deprives the county administrator of final policymaking authority); Manor Healthcare Corp. v. Lomelo , 929 F.2d 633 , 637 (11th Cir. 1991) (holding that the city council's ability to override the mayor's veto in regard to zoning issues meant that the mayor was not the final policymaker for zoning decisions). The plaintiff can try to demonstrate that the board's review is not meaningful, such that the official should be considered the final policymaker. See Quinn , 330 F.3d at 1326 ; Scala , 116 F.3d at 1402 . To succeed in such an argument, the plaintiff would need to show that the board has defective procedures, merely "rubber stamps" the official's decisions”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lopez v. Gibson · Cottrell v. Chickasaw City Sch. Bd. of Educ.

2. “Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress ...”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Kastritis v. City of Daytona Beach Shores

3. “Eleventh Circuit case law provides that: [M]unieipal liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 may be premised upon a single illegal act by a municipal officer only when the challenged act may fairly be said to represent official policy, such as when that municipal officer possesses final policy making authority over the relevant subject matter.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Kastritis v. City of Daytona Beach Shores