DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services

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 born in 1979 in Wyoming. In 1980, his parents divorced, and Joshua's father was awarded custody. Joshua and his father left Wyoming and moved to Wisconsin. Soon after arriving in Wisconsin, child welfare agencies were notified that Joshua was being abused by his father. The first indication came in 1982 when DeShaney's second wife reported that her soon to be ex-husband regularly abused her step-son. The Winnebago County Department of Social Services (DSS) interviewed the father, but did not take any action because he denied the charges.

Soon after, in January of 1983, Joshua was brought to the emergency room for his first of many visits. After treating his bruises, the attending physicians notified the DSS that Joshua's injuries were consistent with child abuse. At this time, the DSS brought together a team of child-care workers to discuss the case, and even placed Joshua under the state's care for three days. No charges were brought against the father, however, although the team did recommend that Joshua be enrolled in a head-start program and that his father should attend counseling. In addition, a social worker, Anne Kemmeter, was assigned to take charge of the case.

Over the next year, Kemmeter visited Joshua's home approximately 20 times. She did not see Joshua at every visit, but did note bumps and bruises on his body when she was allowed to see him. At one time, Kemmeter even described a lesion on his chin that looked like a cigarette burn. In addition, Joshua's father had failed to follow through with enrolling Joshua in pre-school and had not attended counseling sessions. At the same time Kemmeter made her numerous house visits, Joshua appeared in the emergency room at least two more times, and again the doctors reported suspicions of child abuse to the DSS. Still, the state did not make any move to remove Joshua from the custody of his father, despite the fact, as Kemmeter later admitted, "I just knew the phone would ring one day and Joshua would be dead."