DeShaney v. Winnebago County
| DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services | |
|---|---|
| Argued November 2, 1988 Decided February 22, 1989 | |
| Full case name | Joshua DeShaney, a minor, by his guardian ad litem, and Melody DeShaney, Petitioners v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, et al. |
| Docket no. | 87-154 |
| Citations | 489 U.S. 189 (more) 109 S. Ct. 998; 103 L. Ed. 2d 249; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 1039; 57 U.S.L.W. 4218 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division, No. 85 C 310, John W. Reynolds, Judge |
| Holding | |
| A child has no Fourteenth Amendment due process right to state protection against foreseeable abuse by a custodial parent where the state did not create the danger. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Rehnquist, joined by White, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy |
| Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun |
| Dissent | Blackmun |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 | |
DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 489 U.S. 189 (1989), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on February 22, 1989. The court held that a state government agency's failure to prevent child abuse by a custodial parent does not violate the child's right to liberty for the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not impose an affirmative duty on local or state governments to protect individuals from harm caused by private parties unless the individual has a "special relationship" to the State, which usually involves the State apprehending the person against their will or otherwise being the source of harm. The case is particularly famous for Justice Harry Blackmun's "Poor Joshua!" lamentation.
Contrary to popular misconception, DeShaney does not involve the police. Rather, it is about Child Protective Services (called the Department of Social Services in the case) failing to protect an abused child from a violent parent despite knowing the potential danger. Sixteen years later, in Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales (2005), the Court reaffirmed, holding that a mother could not sue a local government under §1983 for police failure to investigate or enforce a restraining order even when three children who were reported missing were subsequently killed by their father.