Newman v. Sathyavaglswaran
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
287 F.3d 786 (2002)
Robert Newman and Barbara Obarski (plaintiffs) each lost children who died in Los Angeles County in 1997. Under a California statute, the county's chief medical examiner, Sathyavaglswaran (defendant), removed corneas from the children's bodies without seeking or obtaining the parents' consent, relying on a state law authorizing removal so long as the coroner had no knowledge of an objection. The parents learned of the removals in 1999 and sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging an unconstitutional taking of their property interest in their children's bodies without due process. The district court dismissed for failure to state a claim, and the parents appealed.
Whether parents of deceased children have a constitutionally protected property interest in possessing the bodies of their children, such that a state coroner's removal of body parts without consent or notice may violate due process.