In Neenah, Wisconsin in 1989, four-year-old Joshua DeShaney lived with his father,who physically abused him. The State Department of Social Services took custody of him for three days, but then returned him to his father.
Social Services should not have returned him home, knowing that he was being abused and not living in a safe environment.
The Department took steps to try and protect Joshua, but did not make an effort to try and remove him from his father’s custody. This resulted in Joshua later being paralyzed and hospitalized with bruises and severe brain damage, caused by his father.
According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, “Joshua’s mother sued respondents…alleging that the respondents had deprived petitioner of his liberty interest in body integrity… by failing to intervene to protect him against his father’s violence.”
This is stating that the State Department of Social Services failed to protect four-year-old Joshua DeShaney against being abused and beaten by his father at home. She also pointed out that this was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which the court disagreed on.
According to 4 Law School, The School Law Authority, Joshua had been treated at the hospital many times, causing an investigation. Joshua had meetings with Social Services, but was too ill to attend most of them. The case was dropped until a year later when he was severely beaten. They also found a history of other traumas.
Hospitals and Social Services had evidence of child abuse for over a year, but did not make an effort to get him out of that situation, this left Joshua permanently disabled.
The Supreme Court ruled that this was not a violation of Joshua’s rights, and that Social Services can not protect children from their parents.
According to the Florida Atlantic University Digital Library, “A State’s failure to protect an individual against private violence simply does not constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The Department of Social Services is supposed to protect children against family problems and give them a better life at home, the department knew that Joshua was in a really bad spot, and was at risk. There should be a change in the constitution about the Social Services and their duties.
According to American SPCC, “American children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse and neglect. The report shows an increase in child abuse referrals from 3.6 million to 4 million. The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations – losing on average almost five children every day to child abuse and neglect.”
This is a serious problem in our country, and not enough is being done about it. Children all over the country are experiencing things just like Joshua DeShaney, and something needs to be changed.
The county decided to return him home to his abusive father as if it wasn’t a crime. Because of this Joshua’s life will never be the same, and he has to live with severe permanent brain damage, and being paralyzed.