[Download] "Pinder v. Johnson" by United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Pinder v. Johnson
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Release Date : January 30, 1995
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Opinion WILKINSON, Circuit Judge: We granted en banc review in this case to define the contours of qualified immunity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when a plaintiff alleges an affirmative duty on the part of a police officer to protect citizens from the actions of a third party. The plaintiff in this action, Carol Pinder, seeks to impose civil liability against Officer Donald Johnson of the Cambridge, Maryland, Police Department for his failure to safeguard her children from the criminal depredations of plaintiff's ex-boyfriend. Pinder alleges that defendant's express promises to her created a ""special relationship,"" which in turn gave rise to an affirmative duty to protect her under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. We hold that no such due process right to protection was clearly established, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep't of Social Servs., 489 U.S. 189, 103 L. Ed. 2d 249, 109 S. Ct. 998 (1989), and that Officer Johnson is thus entitled to qualified immunity.