Balent v. City of Wilkes-Barre

I respectfully dissent. The majority characterizes a single inadvertent mistake on the part of the City’s Chief Housing Officer — not insuring that notice had been perfected before demolishing an unsafe building — as establishing a policy imposing liability in a Section 1983 action on the City of Wilkes-Barre (City). While the Owners could avail themselves of state remedies, I would hold that Section 1983 liability does not exist for failure to receive notice when it was the result of a simple mistake.

On March 9,1980, a building owned by Joseph J. Balent and George Barto (Owners) containing a…