ABSTRACT
C. The Right to Protection Under the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment ........................... 554 1. The Privileges or Immunities Clause ...... . ... .... . 555 2. The Due Process Clause .... . ... . .................. 557 3. The Equal Protection Clause ...................... 563
D. The Meaning 0/ Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 566 1. Civil Protection . . ................................. 566 2. Criminal Proteetion ............................ . . . 567 3. Prevention o/Injury............................... 569
On January 22, 1983, Joshua DeShaney, age four, was brought to the emergency room of a Wisconsin hospital with multiple bruises and abrasions.2 Suspecting child abuse, the hospital stafT notified the County Departrnent of Social Services, which irnrnediately obtained custody of Joshua, only to return hirn to his father's horne a few days later. Over the next fifteen rnonths, the Departrnent received constant reports indicating that Joshua was being seriously abused, but it failed to take any further action to protect hirn. On March 8, 1984, Joshua's father beat hirn so severely that he sufTered massive brain darnage, leaving hirn profoundly retarded and confined to an institution for the rest of his life.
