Opinion ID: 3015076
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Parental-Child Relationship

Text: In McCurdy v. Dodd, 352 F.3d 820 (3d Cir. 2003), we were faced with a case remarkably parallel to the current action. There, the Philadelphia Police shot and killed McCurdy’s nineteen-year-old son during a routine traffic stop. McCurdy brought suit under § 1983 claiming that as a parent, he has a protected liberty interest in the 4 companionship of his son. Id. at 825. We recognized that the parent-child bond does create a liberty interest, the deprivation of which is actionable under § 1983, but held that the protection is limited to the relationship between a parent and a minor child. Id. at 829-30. We refused to extend the liberty interest in a child’s companionship to a parent and his “independent adult child.” Id. at 830. Similarly, Hannah has no liberty interest created by her relationship with her adult son. She thus cannot assert a claim for damages for the deprivation of a right which is not conferred by the Constitution.