Opinion ID: 785876
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Harajli's substantive due process claim

Text: 26 Harajli next contends that the civil standby conducted by Officers Kostielney and Powell made him more vulnerable to the loss of his property, violating his rights under the substantive component of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Specifically, Harajli argues that Civil Standby procedures ... placed plaintiff in a much more precarious position than had the authorities not become involved. 27 Harajli relies upon DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 489 U.S. 189, 109 S.Ct. 998, 103 L.Ed.2d 249 (1989), in which the Supreme Court held that no substantive due process violation occurred where state officials knew that a minor was being abused by his father but did not act to remove [the minor] from his father's custody. Id. at 191, 109 S.Ct. 998. Subsequently the father beat his son severely, causing permanent brain damage. Id. at 193, 109 S.Ct. 998. The Court held that [a]s a general matter ... a State's failure to protect an individual against private violence simply does not constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause. Id. at 197, 109 S.Ct. 998. But the Court also recognized an exception to this general rule: 28 [W]hen the State by the affirmative exercise of its power so restrains an individual's liberty that it renders him unable to care for himself, and at the same time fails to provide for his basic human needs — e.g., food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety — it transgresses the substantive limits on state action set by the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process Clause. 29 Id. at 200, 109 S.Ct. 998. 30 Assuming for the sake of argument that DeShaney applies to cases that involve a deprivation of property, rather than the liberty interest at stake in DeShaney, Harajli might be able to establish a substantive due process violation if he could demonstrate that the Huron Township police officers placed Harajli in a position where he was unable to prevent the removal of the property from his house. But Harajli apparently had advance notice, from Nada's attorney, that she intended to remove her property from the house. At that point Harajli could have attempted to recover the garage-door opener from Nada, asked his lawyer to seek an injunction preventing her from entering the house, or called the police and asked them to intervene. As the defendants point out, Harajli had ample legal and financial resources to protect himself from any alleged perceived harm from his ex-wife, but chose not to do so.... Harajli was certainly more capable of defending his rights than was the injured son in DeShaney. Because no substantive due process violation occurred in DeShaney, clearly none occurred in the present case. We therefore agree with the district court's decision on this issue.