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DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - "undeniably Tragic", Who Was Protecting Joshua?, Impact, The Custody Battle, Further Readings

petitioner abuse decision respondant

Petitioner

Melody DeShaney for her son, Joshua DeShaney

Respondant

Winnebago County Department of Social Services

Petitioner's Claim

That the social workers and the county had violated Joshua DeShaney's right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment by its failure to intervene to protect Joshua from his father's violence.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Donald J. Sullivan

Chief Lawyer for Respondant

Mark J. Mingo

Justices for the Court

Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

22 February 1989

Decision

That Winnebago County Department of Social Services was not responsible for Joshua's severe beating, even though they had ample evidence that abuse was occurring and did nothing to prevent it.

Significance

That the state could not be held liable for child abuse, even if they knew that abuse was occurring and did nothing to prevent it.

Related Cases

  • Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976).
  • Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977).
  • Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307 (1982).

Sources

Hancock, LynNell and Judith Regan. "Putting Working Moms in Custody." Newsweek, 13 March 1995.

Additional Topics

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - "undeniably Tragic"

The facts of DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services are, as Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote in his majority opinion, "undeniably tragic." Despite the tragic nature of the case, however, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, found that states did not have a constitutional duty to protect children from abusive parents. Young Joshua DeShaney was at the center of the case. Joshua was b…

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - Further Readings

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - Who Was Protecting Joshua?

Although Joshua did not die from his father's abuse, on 8 March 1984, Joshua DeShaney was beaten so badly by his father that he fell into a coma. Despite emergency brain surgery--where the doctors found evidence of months of bleeding--when Joshua came out of his coma he was paralyzed and profoundly retarded. Joshua would need to be institutionalized for the rest of his life and could never again f…

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - Impact

After the ruling, there was an outcry against the case from child welfare advocates, who claimed that children were being denied their constitutional rights. Newspapers across the nation criticized the decision, in commentaries such as "No Comment From Joshua" in the Washington Post, and "An `Undeniably Tragic' Ruling" in The Boston Globe. Critics charged that the court based its decision on a col…

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services - The Custody Battle

One Friday afternoon during the O. J. Simpson trial, Marcia Clark had to leave the courthouse early in order to pick up her two boys. On the following Monday she faced accusations from the defense that she had used her children as an excuse to stall in her case preparation. Also on that day, Clark's former husband Gordon filed a suit for custody of the boys, charging that she was "never home and n…

Duckworth v. Eagan - Significance, Impact [next] [back] Dellums v. Bush - Significance, Iraqi-u.s. Relations, A Congressional Duty, Impact, Further Readings

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over 4 years ago

Very interesting, but too sad that social services KNEW there was abuse and they can't protect the poor innocent, helpless toddler!!! Sad how our gov't
systems work, shame on them. All they
want is their money, but do a pisspoor
job when it really comes down to HELPING
those in need!

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over 5 years ago

this have been very informative to me, thank god that i found this website.