City of Castle Rock, Colorado v. Jessica Gonzales

United States Supreme Court - 2005

This case was the first domestic violence case to ever reach the Supreme Court.  It concerned the constitutionality of police failure to enforce a protection order, resulting in the murders of three girls.  A mother of three girls sought police assistance after the girls’ father snatched the children from her front yard without permission, and in violation of their protection order.  Despite Colorado’s mandatory arrest statute, the police repeatedly told the mother to call back and that there was nothing they could do, even after the mother told the police that she has located him and the children by cellphone. About 8 hours later the father arrived at the police station, opened fire, and was shot dead. The bodies of the three girls were in the back of the truck.

The mother sued for violations of due process under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Tenth Circuit ruled in her favor in an en banc decision (5 to 4). The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari, making this the first ever domestic violence case to be considered by the high Court. DV LEAP and pro bono counsel worked in coordination with several other civil rights and domestic violence organizations to file amicus briefs on an array of issues.

DV LEAP’s brief on behalf of five police organizations argued first, that Colorado’s mandatory arrest statute in conjunction with the protection order created an entitlement to procedural due process that was violated by the police’s inaction. Second, it argued that standard police practices around the country far exceed the minimal requirements adopted by the Tenth Circuit to comply with due process. In June 2005 the Supreme Court issued a decision (7-2 with 2 concurring) reversing the Tenth Circuit and holding that Colorado’s mandatory arrest statute did not create an entitlement to procedural due process on the part of Ms. Gonzales and her children.  

Click here to read DV LEAP's amicus brief.  Click here to read the Court's opinion.