Cite as: 520 U. S. 781 (1997)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
as hiring the county's chief jailor, see Parker v. Williams, 862 F. 2d 1471, 1477-1481 (CA11 1989). And, as the Court acknowledges, under its approach sheriffs may be policymakers for certain purposes in some States and not in others. See ante, at 795, and n. 10. The Court's opinion does not call into question the numerous Court of Appeals decisions, some of them decades old, ranking sheriffs as county, not state, policymakers. Furthermore, the Court's recognition of the historic reasons why Alabama listed sheriffs as members of the State's "executive department," see ante, at 788- 789, should discourage endeavors to insulate counties and municipalities from Monell liability by change-the-label devices. Thus, the Court's opinion, while in my view misguided, does little to alter § 1983 county and municipal liability in most jurisdictions.
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