Opinion ID: 198202
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Affirmative Obligation Due Process Claim

Text: 16 The substantive element of the Due Process Clause protects those rights that are fundamental, rights that are implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 325, 58 S.Ct. 149, 82 L.Ed. 288 (1937). 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. 17 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. Skinner, 62 F.3d at 346 (citing Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 332, 106 S.Ct. 662, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986) (noting that the Due Process Clause does not purport to supplant traditional tort law in laying down rules of conduct to regulate liability for injuries that attend living together in society)) (citations omitted). 18 Fournier contends that there is a constitutional right to safe conditions. But see DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189, 195, 202, 109 S.Ct. 998, 103 L.Ed.2d 249 (1989) (The Clause is phrased as a limitation on the State's power to act, not as a guarantee of certain minimal levels of safety and security.... 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 ... constitutionalized by the Fourteenth Amendment.' ) (quoting Daniels, 474 U.S. at 335, 106 S.Ct. 662). Second, Fournier claims his constitutional right to freedom from bodily restraint was violated when he was handcuffed. As discussed above, Fournier's house arrest does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. See supra, at 756-57. Fournier's Complaint attempts to conflate an ordinary tort--battery--into a constitutional violation. Unfortunately for his cause, not everything is a federal case.