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Domestic Violence Debated in Supreme Court

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
April 28, 2005

The U.S. Supreme Court is facing the serious nationwide problem of domestic violence and the continuing difficulty of enforcement of one of the most important weapons against that violence — protection orders. On March 21, the Court considered whether a civil rights remedy is available to domestic violence victims whose pleas to enforce protection orders go unheeded by local police departments. Town of Castle Rock, Colorado v. Gonzales, No. 04-728.

At the core of the case is a claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983, which provides a civil remedy, including damages, when a person is deprived of his or her constitutionally protected property interest without due process. The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held last year that Castle Rock could be liable under ' 1983. The divided en banc court ruled that the combination of a protection order and a state statute mandating arrest of the person restrained when police have probable cause to believe the order has been violated creates a property interest in enforcement of the order. The decision involves the interpretation of the Due Process Clause of the Constitution and poses the question: Does the government have a constitutional duty to protect its citizens from private violence? The implications of the answer for local governments and domestic violence victims alone are huge, according to amicus briefs filed on both sides.

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