Opinion ID: 783048
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wright's Familial Association Claim

Text: 52 Wright alleges that Anthony's confinement overnight at Kings County Hospital unconstitutionally interfered with her substantive due process right of familial association. We have held that family members have, in general terms, a substantive right under the Due Process Clause `to remain together without the coercive interference of the awesome power of the state.' Tenenbaum v. Williams, 193 F.3d 581, 600 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting Duchesne v. Sugarman, 566 F.2d 817, 825 (2d Cir.1977)). In order to prevail on her claim, Wright must demonstrate that her separation from Anthony 11 was so shocking, arbitrary, and egregious that the Due Process Clause would not countenance it even were it accompanied by full procedural protection. Id. 53 We agree with the district court that Anthony's temporary separation from Wright, while undoubtedly difficult and upsetting for both women, was not so shocking, arbitrary, and egregious as to violate Wright's substantive due process rights. See Anthony, 2001 WL 741743, at . The police officers undertook numerous attempts to contact Wright before transporting Anthony to the hospital; Anthony and Wright were ultimately separated only for a short time; and the hospital staff accommodated Wright's interest in staying with Anthony by allowing Wright to spend the night in Anthony's hospital room. See Tenenbaum, 193 F.3d at 600-01 (holding that parents' right to familial association was not violated when the state removed their daughter from school for several hours to determine whether she had been sexually abused, and stressing that the short separation at issue did not violate substantive due process because it did not result in [the plaintiffs'] wholesale relinquishment of their right to rear their daughter (quoting Joyner v. Dumpson, 712 F.2d 770, 778 (2d Cir.1983)) (internal quotation marks omitted)). We thus affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment against Wright on her familial association claim.