SmartBrief
0
Confirm favorite deletion?
Constitutional Law Keyed to Shanor
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services
Citation:
489 U.S. 189 (1989)Facts
Petitioner Joshua DeShaney was born in 1979. In 1980, a Wyoming court granted his parents a divorce and awarded custody of Joshua to his father, Randy DeShaney. The father shortly moved to Neenah, a city located in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, taking the infant Joshua with hi, There he entered into a second marriage, which also ended in divorce. The Winnebago County authorizes first learned that Joshua DeShaney might be a victim of child abuse, when his father’s second wife complained to the police, at the time of their divorce, that he had previously hit the boy causing marks and was a prime case for child abuse. The Winnebago County Department of Social Services interviewed the father, but he denied the accusations and DSS did not pursue them further. Joshua was admitted to a local hospital with multiple bruises and abrasions. The team convened by the County decided that there was insufficient evidence of child abuse to retain Joshua in the custody of the court. The team did, however, decide to recommend several measures to protect Joshua, including enrolling him in a preschool program.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.
Topic Resources
8m 59sTopic Outline 
Topic Refresher Course 
Topic Charts & Notes 