THOMAS L. BOWERS, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF MARGUERITE ANNE BOWERS,
DECEASED, PLAINTIFF, v. ROBERT A. DeVITO, M.D., ET AL., DEFENDANTS.
Nos. 80-1865, 80-2078.
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.
Submitted June 21, 1982.
Decided August 20, 1982.
As Amended September 2, 1982.
Lester E. Munson, Smith & Munson, James G. Meyer, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.
Christine A. Bremer, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Illinois Dept. of Mental Health, D. Kendall Griffith, Chicago, Ill., for defendants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Before PELL, WOOD and POSNER, Circuit Judges.
POSNER, Circuit Judge.
(snip) "[6] We need not decide whether this distinction is valid, for there is an alternative ground on which the dismissal of the complaint against these defendants must be upheld. Section 1983 imposes liability on anyone who under color of state law "subjects . . . any citizen . . . or other person . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution . . .," and thus applies only if there is a deprivation of a constitutional right. See, e.g., Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 699-701, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1159-1160, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976); Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 146-47, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 2695-96, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979); Bonner v. Coughlin, 545 F.2d 565, 567, 569 (7th Cir. 1976). There is a constitutional right not to be murdered by a state officer, for the state violates the Fourteenth Amendment when its officer, acting under color of state law, deprives a person of life without due process of law. Brazier v. Cherry, 293 F.2d 401, 404-05 (5th Cir. 1961). But there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It is monstrous if the state fails to protect its residents against such predators but it does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or, we suppose, any other provision of the Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties; it tells the state to let people alone; it does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order. Discrimination in providing protection against private violence could of course violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment..........."
But the State is correct to stop you and search you in case you're not wearing your seatbelt?