A 9.8 Section 1983 Claim Against Local Governing Body Defendants Based on a Policy that Fails to Prevent Violations of Law or a Policy of Failure to Train-Elements and Burden of Proof is a legal claim that is brought against local governing bodies when their policies fail to prevent violations of the law or when they fail to adequately train their employees. This type of claim is based on the civil rights statute, Section 1983 of the United States Code. This claim is typically filed in federal court. The elements of proof for this type of claim include a showing that: 1) the local governing body had a policy or practice in place that either failed to prevent violations of the law or failed to provide adequate training to its employees; 2) the policy or practice was the “moving force” behind the violation of the law or the lack of training; 3) the violation of the law or lack of training resulted in an injury to the plaintiff; and 4) the local governing body was the proximate cause of the injury. The burden of proof for this type of claim is on the plaintiff to show that the local governing body’s policy or practice was the “moving force” behind the violation of the law or the lack of training. The plaintiff must also show that the violation of the law or lack of training resulted in an injury to the plaintiff and that the local governing body was the proximate cause of the injury. There are two types of 9.8 Section 1983 Claim Against Local Governing Body Defendants Based on a Policy that Fails to Prevent Violations of Law or a Policy of Failure to Train-Elements and Burden of Proof: a claim for failure to prevent violations of the law and a claim for failure to provide adequate training.