Opinion ID: 483358
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legal Standards Applicable to Due Process Claims.

Text: 17 To prevail on its due process claim Curtis must prove that it had a definite liberty or property interest and that such interest was, under color of state law, abridged without appropriate process. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569-70, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2705, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972); Casias v. City of Raton, 738 F.2d 392, 394 (10th Cir.1984); Vinyard v. King, 728 F.2d 428, 430 (10th Cir.1984). The process requirement necessary to satisfy fourteenth amendment procedural due process comes into play only after plaintiff has shown that it has a property or liberty interest. Vinyard, 728 F.2d at 430 n. 5 (citing Roth, 408 U.S. at 569-70, 92 S.Ct. at 2705). To establish a property interest in a particular benefit, one must have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it. Roth, 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709. [A]n abstract need or desire for it or a unilateral expectation is insufficient. Id.; see also Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982). Whether such claim of entitlement exists, and the sufficiency thereof, is determined by reference to state law. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 344, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 2077, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976). However, while the typical claim of entitlement is based upon specific statutory or contractual provisions, it need not be. Casias, 738 F.2d at 394. Rather, [a] person's interest in a benefit is a 'property' interest for due process purposes if there are ... rules or mutually explicit understandings that support his claim of entitlement to the benefit and that he may invoke at a hearing. Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 2699, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). 18