What Monell Liability Means, How It Applies to CPS, and How It Applies to My Case

Monell liability comes from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978).

In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that a city or county can be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when the government itself is the reason someone’s constitutional rights were violated. This means the county becomes responsible when its own policies, customs, or failures caused the harm. The Supreme Court made it clear that a county is a “person” under federal civil rights law and can be held accountable in federal court.

Monell liability does not make a county responsible every time an employee makes a mistake. It applies when the harm comes from the government’s official policy, from a long-standing custom that workers follow every day, or when county leaders fail to train staff correctly and that failure causes unconstitutional conduct. In simple terms, Monell liability applies when the problem comes from the system.

This is why Monell is so important in CPS cases. Most of the harm that happens to families does not come from one worker. It comes from a broken system. CPS agencies across the country often remove children without evidence, target parents with disabilities, discriminate against LGBTQ+ parents, ignore ADA requirements, violate due process, rely on unlicensed workers, and retaliate when parents stand up for themselves. These harmful actions become routine. When an agency acts this way over and over again, those unwritten practices become customs under Monell.

Monell also applies when county leaders know about the violations and choose to do nothing. This is called deliberate indifference. If policy makers receive written complaints, lawsuits, audits, or warnings about illegal practices and allow them to continue, the county becomes liable. Under Monell, a failure to act is treated the same as an explicit policy when leadership knows the misconduct is happening.

This applies directly to my case. The violations against me did not happen because of one social worker or one county employee. They happened because Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County were already running unconstitutional systems that were harming families for years. My filings from Dkt 199 through Dkt 355 show that both counties ignored state audits, federal audits, state oversight committees, internal warnings, and scientific research proving that their practices were discriminatory and illegal. These documents existed long before the counties ever took my children.

My case proves that what happened to me fits the definition of Monell liability. San Bernardino County removed my children in 2017 even though there was no evidence of abuse or neglect. Los Angeles County took over my case in 2018 and continued the same discriminatory customs, including ADA violations even though I am Deaf, discrimination because I am a gay father, retaliation because I spoke up, and the use of unlicensed workers. The counties later pushed for the termination of my parental rights in 2019 despite the absence of substantiated danger. These actions were not isolated errors. They were part of a known pattern documented in state and federal reports.

My case includes something exceptionally rare in Monell lawsuits. I have proof that I started emailing the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2018 and continued until 2025. I repeatedly reported discrimination, ADA violations, wrongful removals, perjury by workers, retaliation, the use of unlicensed staff, and the danger my children were facing. I sent these emails year after year. I provided evidence. I asked for help. I asked for oversight. I asked for someone to intervene. The Board of Supervisors received my warnings, and they chose silence. This seven-year record is powerful evidence under Monell because it proves policymaker notice. It shows that the highest officials in the county knew about the violations and still refused to act. When leadership ignores warnings over many years, that silence becomes an official policy under federal law. (See, Email Communications to Board of Supervisors)

My evidence shows that the counties were deliberately indifferent to the harm. They ignored every warning. They ignored the audits. They ignored federal findings. They ignored the emails I sent. They ignored the danger my children were in. Under Monell, this makes the counties liable because leadership chose to protect their agencies rather than protect children and families.

My filings also include social science research in Dkt 353 showing the national patterns behind CPS misconduct. The research proves that disabled parents, Deaf parents, LGBTQ+ parents, and minority families are far more likely to face wrongful removals and termination of parental rights. What happened to me is part of this larger national pattern. It was not a coincidence. It was not an accident. It was the result of a system that has been allowed to violate families for decades.

I also documented these patterns in two of my investigative articles, which expose the same misconduct, the same customs, and the same failures that make the counties liable under Monell.

The Silence That Broke the System

https://www.stolenchildrenbycps.com/post/the-silence-that-broke-the-system-how-one-father-s-filings-exposed-the-deepest-scandal-in-child-wel

A Message to the World: The Twenty Five Year Pattern They Never Wanted Exposed

https://www.stolenchildrenbycps.com/post/a-message-to-the-world-the-twenty-five-year-pattern-they-never-wanted-exposed?fbclid=IwY2xjawODiY9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFVYWIwTXBOeE1KYmVBSFdqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlOZ_6_P6ushGEeH30Ei5BKyCqA6S-csYi7VMpMak8GHM0QA4GHryVhg_IzJ_aem_-r7sdIhaOIMLZa3NC_iJoA

These articles demonstrate the same long-standing failures that appear in my federal case filings. They show that the counties ignored warnings for over twenty years and continued to operate in violation of federal law.

All of these facts together show why my case is a complete Monell case. The counties had unconstitutional policies. They had discriminatory customs. They failed to train their workers. They knowingly employed unlicensed staff. They retaliated against me. They discriminated against me because I am Deaf and gay. They violated due process. They violated the Fourteenth Amendment. They violated the ADA. They ignored seven years of my emails. Policy makers had notice. Policymakers refused to act. Their actions and their silence caused permanent harm to me and my children.

This is exactly what Monell liability is meant to expose. My case shows the truth about how deep the corruption goes inside these child welfare systems, and it holds the counties accountable for the system they created and protected. My case is not only about what happened to me. It is about exposing the entire system so that no other parent experiences the same injustice.