Joshua DeShaney is paralyzed and permanently retarded; he will require institutional care the rest of his life as the result of a head injury inflicted by his father when Joshua was 3 years old. Prior to this, the county had received reports that Joshua was being abused by his father, but the county's investigations concluded that the suspicion of abuse was unfounded, and Joshua remained in the home. Joshua and his mother have sued the county under 42 U.S.C., Section 1983, claiming that the Department of Social Services failure to protect Joshua from his father amounted to a deprivation of liberty in violation of the 14th amendment. Having received unfavorable decisions in the U.S. district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, the plaintiffs will present their case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The county has successfully argued that it has the responsibility to protect only those persons it holds in custody. DeShaney argues, on the other hand, that the county's knowledge of the evidence of abuse and its incompetent efforts to address abuse allegations make it constitutionally liable. DeShaney further argues that the responsible county employee's failure to act was so egregious a lapse of judgment that it approached an intentional deprivation of liberty.