United States Seventh Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against county officials claiming that the sheriff's department's failure to act on a harassment complaint deprived the decedents of their lives without due process of law, dismissal for failure to state a claim is affirmed where there is no federal constitutional right to be protected by the government against private violence in which the government is not complicit.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/24/2008
• Decided 11/24/2008
• Published 11/24/2008

Judges

• POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge, and POSNER and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Fred Schultz (argued), Attorney, Greene & Schultz, Bloomington, IN, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Keith W. Vonderahe (argued), Attorney, Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel & Shoulders, Evansville, IN, for Defendants-Appellees.