DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services

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 cold, detached, and rational reading of the law, without considering the ramifications of their decision on children.

Other critics, looking back on the DeShaney decision, have charged that the case set a dangerous precedent for taking away the rights of children. For example, Kathleen Fischer, writing in the Journal of Juvenile Law, entitled her article "Where Have all the Heroes Gone? A Study of Juvenile Related Decisions Following DeShaney." Fischer argues that following in the wake of the DeShaney case, courts have ruled against supporting the rights of children against abusive adults. She writes: "One would conclude that each actor's rights [in cases following DeShaney] are being protected except for those of the children, who need the protection most of all."