4.07.2021

No Fundamental Right to Demand That Police Protect You—but That Might Be Changing

 


This guest post is from Dana DiDomenico, Regent Family Law student:

On June 22, 1999, Jessica Gonzalez’s life took a dramatic turn. See Town of Castle Rock, 545 U.S. 748, 755 (2005). On that day, her estranged ex-husband made the choice to violate the express terms of a restraining order which expressly prohibited him from making contact with Ms. Gonzalez or their three daughters, who were all under the age of ten. Id. at 752. Simon Gonzalez kidnapped the three girls from the front lawn of Ms. Gonzalez’s home. Id. Like any mother, she was terrified for the lives of her children. She called the police, who, upon arrival, explained that because the children were with their father, there was no need for any police intervention, restraining order notwithstanding. Id. at 753.

Ms. Gonzalez made eleven attempts to get the police to look for her children. Ms. Gonzalez called the police nine times and went directly to the police station twice. After eleven attempts to get the police to look for her children, the police still did nothing. Id. at 753–54.

Around 3:00 AM the morning of June 23, 1999, Simon Gonzalez arrived at the Castle Rock Police Station and opened fire with a gun he had just purchased the night before. Police shot and killed him. Ms. Gonzalez’s three daughters were already dead, murdered in the back seat of Simon Gonzalez’s truck. Id. at 754.

Ms. Gonzalez filed a complaint against the Castle Rock Police Department for their gross negligence in failing to enforce her restraining order. Id. After several appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the Police department had acted grossly negligent and that Ms. Gonzalez had a fundamental right under the Due Process Clause to enforcement of her restraining order. More fundamentally, the court explained that individuals have a right to protection, that this is what due process, in its most basic sense, means. Indeed, the right includes protection of “life, liberty, and property.” U.S. Const. amend. 4. To the Colorado Supreme Court, this is exactly what the Castle Rock Police Department failed to do for Ms. Gonzalez and her three little girls. Id. at 754–55.

The case was appealed to the highest court in the land: The United States Supreme Court. Id. at 755. There, Justice Scalia explained that due process does not require the police to enforce restraining orders, nor does it require the police to protect individuals like Ms. Gonzalez. Id. at 762. To add insult to injury, the police officers involved were protected by qualified immunity—meaning no lawsuit could be brought against the individual officers responsible for dismissing her. Id. at 754 n.3.

Ms. Gonzalez appealed this decision in the international courts, where the International community formally rebuked the United States for human rights violations. See IACHR report No. 80/11 case 12.626 merits Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) et al. United States.

Because of this case and others like it, however, the law in Colorado is changing. In 2020, the Colorado General Assembly passed a string of police reforms, including eliminating qualified immunity for police officers in certain, delineated circumstances. The 2020 Bill Text CO S.B. 217 is called the Law Enforcement Integrity and Accountability Act. If it had been enacted in 1999, Jessica Gonzalez might have had recourse against the officers who ignored her cries for help, and the Gonzalez girls might still be alive.

No comments:

Post a Comment