Scarred by the Ones Closest to Them

Though the supreme court manages to bring justice to most people, children are not always covered in legal cases. These children are vulnerable and don’t have any power against their own parents/guardian. In the case of DeShaney v. Winnebago, the court could not provide any justice for the victim as it was his father who abused him.

In 1989 a court case between DeShaney and Winnebago brought up the problem of domestic abuse of a 4 year old Joshua DeShaney by his father. After a vicious attack from his father, Deshaney was rush to the hospital where he was diagnosed with severe brain damage and was left paralyzed and mentally disabled. Once dispatched from the hospital, Deshaney was given back to his abusive father causing Joshua’s mother to sue child services. The court ruled against Joshua and his mother because they could not protect children from their parents. As a result of the ruling, lots of controversy was created.

The Deshaney v. Winnebago case helps prove the claim that the court cannot protect children from their parents. According to the New York Times company “It said essentially that the Constitution does not protect children from their parents and therefore the government was not at fault in Joshua’s abuse”.

Although the fourteenth amendment, which forbids the state from “depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”, applies to everyone it doesn’t always apply to children. Parents always have control over the discipline since they have the right to it. These people who decide to take on the process of obtaining and raising a child should be able to do as they please with them as it is their responsibility. If someone is a guardian of a child that person should be able to discipline as they please but they should not have the right to hurt the child in such a serious manner causing them to be mentally or physically scarred.

Although in some cases of a parent’s discipline, the child may be severely injured which is a serious epidemic. Depending on how serious the abuse is a person should be tried by the court if the injuries are serious enough or permanent. Even though a person may have guardianship of a child that child is still considered a human being and should be treated as such. Social Services is there to protect children from curtain cases of abuse and the court should only get involved if the cause is abusive.