The State-Created Danger Doctrine in Domestic Violence Cases: Do We Have a Solution in Okin v. Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Police Department?

Abstract

Violence perpetrated against women by intimate partners is a major societal problem and the dangers associated with domestic violence are well documented in the literature. This article discusses the availability of redress under the state-created danger doctrine for women who have suffered domestic violence in the hands of intimate partners. The United States Supreme Court in Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services held that a state has no duty to protect its citizens from violence perpetrated by third parties. The state-created danger doctrine, which is an exception to the Deshaney rule, allows women who have suffered domestic violence to seek redress from state actors, such as police officers, who condone or increase the harm that they suffer. Federal courts around the country allow women to bring claims under the state-created danger doctrine, but the tests which must be established are onerous and difficult to prove. However, the Second Circuit in Okin v. Village of Cornwall-On-Hudson Police Department established less onerous factors which if adopted by other courts, would make it easier for women to prove their cases of state-created danger in federal court and create an incentive for the police to protect women from perpetrators of violence.

Keywords: state-created danger, domestic violence, women, due process, Deshaney, state actors