Also known as: due process claims · due process
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional claim asserting that government action has deprived an individual of life, liberty, or property without fair procedures or without adequate justification when a fundamental right is at stake. The claim may challenge either the adequacy of notice and hearing or the substantive validity of the underlying deprivation.
Danielle Dixon attended a federally operated aviation magnet school where administrators placed her in racially exclusive classes and clubs. She was denied enrollment in an advanced seminar solely because of her race. Dixon sued the federal agency alleging that the mandatory racial separation deprived her of liberty without due process.
Dolores Diaz, a resident of a state that prohibited interracial marriage, sought a license to wed her partner of a different race. State officials denied the license under the statute. Diaz brought a due process claim asserting that the ban infringed her fundamental right to marry.
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Doris Duffy owed child support arrears and lived in a state that required court approval before issuing a marriage license to anyone with unpaid obligations. Officials blocked her application. Duffy filed a due process claim contending that the precondition substantially interfered with her fundamental right to marry.
Delilah Duran was convicted of a crime that triggered a state statute mandating sterilization. The state scheduled the procedure without further individualized review. Duran asserted a due process claim that the compulsory sterilization violated her fundamental right to procreate.
Daniel Diaz lived with his nonmarital child and the child's mother until the mother died. State officials immediately removed the child without a hearing on Daniel's parental fitness. He filed a due process claim asserting that the automatic severance deprived him of a protected liberty interest in his relationship with the child.
Diane Dawson was assigned to a racially segregated public school under state law. She was barred from attending the integrated school in her district. Dawson brought a due process claim alleging that the racial separation deprived her of liberty without due process of law.
The plaintiff must demonstrate that the government action substantially interferes with a fundamental right such as marriage, procreation, or parental custody and that the action lacks sufficient justification under the applicable level of scrutiny.
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The Fifth Amendment prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, including through grossly unreasonable racial classifications in federally operated institutions.
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Yes. A plaintiff must first identify a protected liberty or property interest before showing that the government deprived that interest without adequate process or justification.
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Yes. When a statute conditions marriage on court approval for individuals with support arrears, the restriction may violate due process if it substantially interferes with the fundamental right to marry without close tailoring to the state's interests.
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…her pregnancy. Appellant would discover this right in the concept of personal "liberty" embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause; or in personal, marital, familial, and sexual privacy said to be protected by the Bill of Rights or its penumbras, see Griswold v. Connecticut , 381 U.S. 479 (1965); Eisenstadt v.…