Bronson McClelland v. Katy Independent School District, et al.
FirstAmendment JusticiabilityDoctri
Does Monell liability exist for a public school district when an official with final policymaking authority relied on a policy to cause a constitutional injury?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Inacivil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, does Monell liability exist for a public school district when an official who committed a constitutional violation had been delegated final policymaking authority to “develop and enforce” a specific policy and then relied on that policy to cause the constitutional injury? 2. Based on the “true threat” doctrine in Couwnterman v. Colorado, with respect to public school students’ off-campus speech, before school districts are permitted to impose a final disciplinary decision which will become part of a student’s official education record, does the First Amendment require that school officials must prove that the student speaker had some “subjective understanding” of a statement’s threatening nature before making a final determination on whether the speech was “protected speech” or an unprotected “true threat”?