Joshua Deshaney Case Summary

In the year of 1989, a mother came to the supreme court for assistance. Her son, 4-year-old Joshua DeShaney, was returned to his father by the Department of Social Services, even though the father committed domestic violence. One day, Joshua was hospitalized for severe brain damage and bruises all over his body caused by his father. The mother immediately sued the Department of Social Services for returning Joshua to his father. The Supreme Court should have protected my client by the constitution's XIV Amendment, which forbids "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". The constitution has a duty, and that is to protect all United States Citizen's rights. My client, Josh DeShaney was beaten up by his father several times when he was four-years-old. After the mother sued the Department of Social Services of Winnebago for returning the kid to his father, they went to trial. However, the Supreme Court ruled against his mother and Joshua, pointing essentially that the Constitution does not protect children from their parents and that therefore the government was not at fault in Joshua's abuse. The lack of protections by the law can leave a great impact on people's life. In this case, it was child abuse. It hurt Joshua DeShaney, leaving him with a severe

"...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." For instance, the government has the obligation to defend all children and spouses from the people they live with if a violent behavior is to occur. Joshua Deshaney live with his father, who physically abused him. There was a time when authorities took him away from his father, but returned him later on. The involvement of violence was very clear, yet the law didn’t respect what is stated in the Declaration of