DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services
489 U.S. 189 · U.S. Supreme Court
Holding and boundaries
The Due Process Clause generally does not impose an affirmative duty on the state to protect a person from private violence absent custody or state-created exceptions recognized in later law.
Scope and limitations: Statutory duties, state tort law and special-relationship/state-created-danger doctrines remain distinct.
3 issue placements
Care Economy
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services rejects, narrows, limits, or supplies adverse authority relevant to Care Economy. Fit tier: Contextual. The placement must be used only within the holding and limitations recorded here.
Scope and limitations: Statutory duties, state tort law and special-relationship/state-created-danger doctrines remain distinct.
Verification-state description: authoritative_text_identified; pinpoint_and_currentness_review_required
Child Welfare, Foster Care & Youth Development
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services rejects, narrows, limits, or supplies adverse authority relevant to Child Welfare, Foster Care & Youth Development. Fit tier: Direct. The placement must be used only within the holding and limitations recorded here.
Scope and limitations: Statutory duties, state tort law and special-relationship/state-created-danger doctrines remain distinct.
Verification-state description: authoritative_text_identified; pinpoint_and_currentness_review_required
Childcare & Early Learning
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services rejects, narrows, limits, or supplies adverse authority relevant to Childcare & Early Learning. Fit tier: Contextual. The placement must be used only within the holding and limitations recorded here.
Scope and limitations: Statutory duties, state tort law and special-relationship/state-created-danger doctrines remain distinct.
Verification-state description: authoritative_text_identified; pinpoint_and_currentness_review_required
Publication and provenance
The authority is published once; issue-specific orientation and fit remain separate placements. Analogue, contextual, and historical-adverse fits are not represented as controlling.
Published under research-publication-clearance-2026-07-21. deterministic validation and objective verification are not claimed.