Id. Fournier cites Massachusetts law, see Mass. Gen. Laws ch. However, whether Massachusetts law was violated or the department failed to follow its own disciplinary procedures matters little because neither alleged deficiency establishes a 1983 violation. The Supreme Court has deemed that most, but not all, of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are fundamental. In addition, certain unenumerated rights, such as the right to privacy, are deemed fundamental. While the Supreme Court has extended substantive due process protection to certain unenumerated rights, it has not extended Fourteenth Amendment coverage to many areas.
Tort law is one such area that remains largely outside substantive due process jurisprudence.
Fournier contends that there is a constitutional right to safe conditions. A State may, through its courts and legislatures, impose such affirmative duties of care and protection upon its agents as it wishes. But not 'all common-law duties owed by government actors were . . . Second, Fournier claims his constitutional right to freedom from bodily restraint was violated when he was handcuffed. See supra , at 5-6.