that, as state agencies, they are not subject to suit under section 1983. Section 1983 creates a federal cause of action against “every person” who acts under color of state law to deprive a plaintiff of “any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws ....” 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Supreme Court has held that a state and its agencies are not “persons” as the term is used in section 1983. Will v. Mich. Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 65, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). Even though Plaintiffs concede that the State Police and Maine DHS are agencies of the State of Maine, they argue that the two entities can face municipal liability under section 1983. See Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) (<HOLDING>). The Maine State Police and the Maine DHS,
holding that in employment discrimination cases falling under 42 usc  1983 municipalities are not subject to punitive damages for the actions of government officials holding states are not persons for the purposes of section 1983 recognizing a claim for civil liability against municipalities  under  1983 holding that municipalities unlike states are subject to suit under section 1983 recognizing that municipalities immunity from punitive damage awards under section 1983 does not render them immune from suit altogether