Camp v. Gregory
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
67 F.3d 1286 (7th Cir. 1995)
After Elnora Camp (plaintiff) determined she couldn't provide the highly structured, closely supervised environment her nephew Anthony Young needed for safety and relinquished guardianship to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), caseworker George Gregory (defendant) placed Young back in Camp's home despite knowing she couldn't provide that necessary supervision; a few months later, Young was shot and killed two blocks from Camp's home. Camp sued Gregory for violating Young's substantive due process rights by placing him in a dangerous environment, and the district court dismissed the complaint, prompting Camp's appeal.
Whether a state child-welfare caseworker who places a child in a home knowing the caretaker cannot provide reasonable supervision, resulting in the child's injury outside the home, may be held liable for depriving the child of substantive due process liberty.