Danny Lamont Chambers; Dontell Rayvon-Eddie Smith v. Ronald Sanders; City of Detroit, Michigan

Danny Lamont Chambers and Dontell Rayvon-Eddie Smith allege that Detective Ronald Sanders and his employer, the City of Detroit, violated their Fourteenth Amendment right to familial integrity by procuring the wrongful

conviction and incarceration of their father, Danny Burton. Even assuming that the plaintiffs

have identified a substantive right protected by the Due Process Clause, their claim cannot

succeed because they have not alleged that defendants acted with a culpable state of mind,

directed toward them or their family unit. We affirm.



I.



In 1987, a Michigan state court jury convicted Danny Burton of first-degree murder and a

firearm charge. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The

complaint in this case alleges that the conviction primarily rested on witness testimony from

individuals who were present at the home where the shooting had allegedly occurred. In

December 2019, Burton was released from prison and his conviction was vacated on the

prosecutor's motion, after key witnesses recanted and details of witness manipulation and

intimidation were revealed. Detective Ronald Sanders's investigative tactics allegedly included

threats and physical violence against witnesses, including minors, to secure their testimony

against Burton. Plaintiffs allege that, as a result, Burton spent thirty-two years in prison.

In July 2020, Burton filed claims under §§ 1983 and 1988 against Sanders and the City of

Detroit for Brady violations, malicious prosecution, and fabrication of evidence. The district

court granted the city's motion to dismiss Burton's claims, finding that Burton's claims were

barred by the city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy which occurred after Burton's claims arose. Detective

Sanders did not move to dismiss and Burton's claims against him were still pending in the

district court as of the time of this appeal.



Several months after the city was dismissed from Burton's suit, Burton's sons filed the

instant suit against Sanders and the city. His sons, Danny Lamont Chambers and Dontell

Rayvon-Eddie Smith, allege that the wrongful conviction and incarceration of their father

throughout their childhood and into adulthood violated their constitutional right to family

integrity. They do not assert that Sanders's actions were directed at the family unit or intended

to break up the family; rather, they claim that their "rights were violated when defendants

violated Mr. Burton's rights.” DE 1, Compl., Page ID 11.



The district court granted Sanders' motion to dismiss the § 1983 claim against him,

finding no cognizable due process right for "interference with family integrity” when a party is

indirectly harmed by a constitutional tort against a family member. The district court further

granted the city's motion to dismiss Chambers and Smith's Monell claim because it relied on the

same theory of due-process parental interference that the court dismissed against Sanders. With

the federal claims dismissed, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over

Chambers and Smith's state-law claims. Chambers and Smith timely appealed the district

court's grant of the motions to dismiss.



II.



On appeal, Chambers and Smith reassert their argument that the substantive due process

right of familial association extends to cases where the state has wrongfully incarcerated a parent

for a significant period and argue that the district court erred in dismissing their federal claims

under Rule 12(b)(6).



We review de novo a district court's dismissal of a plaintiff's claims under Rule 12(b)(6).

Bloch v. Ribar, 156 F.3d 673, 677 (6th Cir. 1998). "To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint

must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible

on its face.'” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,

550 U.S. 554, 570 (2007)). For a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the plaintiff must allege two

elements: (1) "the defendant acted under color of state law;” and (2) "the defendant's conduct

deprived the plaintiff of rights secured under federal law.” Fritz v. Charter Twp. of Comstock,

592 F.3d 718, 722 (6th Cir. 2010). As the city and Sanders have not contested that Sanders was

acting "under color of state law” in course of his investigation, we focus our inquiry on the

second prong: whether the challenged conduct deprived Chambers and Smith of a federal right.

The Fourteenth Amendment's substantive due process protections guard against

"governmental deprivations of life, liberty, or property . . . regardless of the adequacy of the

procedures employed.” Range v. Douglas, 763 F.3d 573, 588 (6th Cir. 2014) (quoting Pearson

v. City of Grand Blanc, 961 F.2d 1211, 1216 (6th Cir. 1992). It protects both constitutionally

enumerated rights, as well as rights "so rooted in the traditions of the people as to be ranked



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 4



fundamental” and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, or the interest in freedom from

government actions that "shock the conscience.” Id.; see also Bell v. Ohio State Univ., 351 F.3d

240, 249-50 (6th Cir. 2003). In recognizing unenumerated rights, the Supreme Court counsels

hesitation: "We must . . . exercise the utmost care whenever we are asked to break new ground in

this field, lest the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause be subtly transformed into the

policy preferences of” the judiciary. Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720 (1997)

(internal alteration, citations, and quotation marks omitted). "To say the least, it's a tough test.”

Golf Vill. N., LLC v. City of Powell, 42 F.4th 593, 601 (6th Cir. 2022).



The Due Process Clause has historically protected some rights that are grounded in

family integrity and autonomy. See Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 232 (1972) ("The history

and culture of Western civilization reflect a strong tradition of parental concern for the nurture

and upbringing of their children. This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their

children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.”); Quilloin v.

Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 255 (1978) ("We have recognized on numerous occasions that the

relationship between parent and child is constitutionally protected.”). However, this

longstanding liberty interest has traditionally applied to either state actions directed at the family

relationship, such as visitation or child custody, or state regulation of decisions within the ambit

of parental control, such as educational decisions, the choice of living arrangements, and the

choice to have children. See Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 66-69 (2000) (custodial rights of

fit parents); Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399 (1923) (right of parents to make educational

decisions); Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 499-500 (1977) (plurality opinion)

(right of extended family members to live together); Skinner v. State of Okla. ex rel. Williamson,

316 U.S. 535 (1942) (right to have children). The contours of these rights are guided by history

and tradition, and they are not absolute; "the family is not beyond regulation.” Moore, 431 U.S.

at 499.1



1Whatever the scope of the substantive rights that might be grouped under the heading of "family

integrity,” neither this court nor the Supreme Court has held that such rights are shared equally by parent and child,

see Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110, 130 (1989) ("We have never had occasion to decide whether a child has

a liberty interest, symmetrical with that of her parent, in maintaining her filial relationship.”). Our own precedent

has held only that children may assert reciprocal procedural due process protections in the context of child removal

proceedings. Kovacic v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Dep't of Child & Fam. Servs., 724 F.3d 687, 700 (6th Cir. 2013). We note



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 5



This circuit has not previously decided whether the right to family integrity is implicated

whenever the state deprives a child of routine interaction with a parent through wrongful

incarceration. Cf. Purnell v. City of Akron, 925 F.2d 941, 948 n.6 (6th Cir. 1991) (declining to

decide the issue of whether the children of a man wrongfully killed by state police could bring a

§ 1983 claim for deprivation of the parent-child relationship). We address the issue now and

hold that it is not.



III.



We may assume for purposes of this case that plaintiffs have identified a liberty interest

protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Even so, it would not be violated here because

plaintiffs have not alleged that any state actor intruded on that right with the culpability required

to state a due process violation. Daniels, 474 U.S. at 331; Lewis, 523 U.S. at 848. This

conclusion is supported by the majority of our sibling circuits and our own precedent.



A.



The Supreme Court has explained that "[h]istorically, the guarantee of due process has

been applied to deliberate decisions of government officials to deprive a person of life, liberty,

or property.” Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 331 (1986) (collecting cases). The "Due

Process Clause is violated by executive action only when it can properly be characterized as

arbitrary, or conscience shocking, in a constitutional sense.” Lewis, 523 U.S. at 847 (internal

quotation marks and citation omitted). Negligent behavior categorically fails to shock the

conscience, while conduct intended to injure is "most likely to rise to the conscience-shocking

level.” Id. at 849. Accordingly, the majority of circuits have recognized that "not every . . . act

that results in an interference with the rights of familial association is actionable.” Lowery v.

County of Riley, 522 F.3d 1086, 1092 (10th Cir. 2008) (cleaned up and internal quotation marks

and citations omitted). As with every substantive violation of the Due Process Clause, the state

must have acted toward the plaintiff with a culpable state of mind. See id. ("The conduct or

also that, under the Supreme Court's caselaw, the Due Process rights of parents—and hence any reciprocal rights of

children—may vary depending on a number of facts that are not alleged in the complaint, such as the parents'

marital and custodial status. See Michael H., 491 U.S. at 128130; Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 261 (1983). We

decline to address the issue here.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 6



statement must be directed at the familial relationship with knowledge that the statements or

conduct will adversely affect that relationship.”); Valdivieso Ortiz v. Burgos, 807 F.2d 6, 9 (1st

Cir. 1986) ("We decline, on this record, to make the leap ourselves from the realm of

governmental action directly aimed at the relationship between a parent and a young child to an

incidental deprivation of the relationship between appellants and their adult relative.”); Gorman

v. Rensselaer County, 910 F.3d 40, 48 (2d Cir. 2018) ("[A] claim under the Due Process Clause

for infringement of the right to familial associations requires the allegation that state action was

specifically intended to interfere with the family relationship.”); McCurdy v. Dodd, 352 F.3d

820, 827-28 (3d Cir. 2003) ("In the context of parental liberty interests . . . the Due Process

Clause only protects against deliberate violations of a parent's fundamental rights—that is,

where the state action at issue was specifically aimed at interfering with protected aspects of the

parent-child relationship.”); Russ v. Watts, 414 F.3d 783, 790 (7th Cir. 2005) ("[F]inding a

constitutional violation based on official actions that were not directed at the parent-child

relationship would stretch the concept of due process far beyond the guiding principles set forth

by the Supreme Court.”); Partridge v. City of Benton, 929 F.3d 562, 568 (8th Cir. 2019)

("Pleading a plausible familial-relationship claim under § 1983 requires an allegation that the

state action was intentionally directed at the familial relationship . . . Partridge and Schweikle did

not allege in their complaint, or argue on appeal, that Ellison's shooting was directed at their

relationship with Keagan. This forecloses their claims.”); Shaw v. Stroud, 13 F.3d 791, 804-05

(4th Cir. 1994).



Plaintiffs, by contrast, seek to state a claim for violation of their own Due Process rights

without any showing of a culpable mental state directed toward them. Plaintiffs claim that

defendants violated their father's constitutional rights through Brady violations, malicious

prosecution, and fabrication of evidence and that the City is liable to their father under Monell.

As to their own constitutional claims, they say simply that they have a "constitutional right to

have their family unit protected,” which was necessarily "violated when defendants violated Mr.

Burton's rights, which caused Mr. Burton to be falsely convicted and imprisoned.” DE 1,

Compl., Page ID 11. But holding a government actor automatically responsible for incidental

harms flowing from his actions imposes strict liability—a result directly contrary to Daniels,

which clarifies that the Due Process Clause "serves to prevent governmental power from being



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 7



used for purposes of oppression.” Daniels, 474 U.S. at 331 (internal quotation marks and

citation omitted). In Daniels, the Supreme Court held that the "Due Process Clause is simply not

implicated” by an act "causing unintended loss of injury to life, liberty, or property,” even when

a government official acts negligently with respect to the plaintiff's constitutionally protected

interests. Id. at 328. Nor can it be implicated when a government official unintentionally harms

those interests with no culpable state of mind directed toward them at all.



The only circuit to agree with the plaintiffs' approach is the Ninth Circuit, which allows

children to claim violation of their right to family integrity against state actions which

incidentally impact their relationship with their parents. See Smith v. City of Fontana, 818 F.2d

1411, 1417-20 (9th Cir. 1987), overruled on other grounds by Hodgers-Durgin v. de la Vina, 199

F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 1999); Kelson v. City of Springfield, 767 F.2d 651, 655 (9th Cir. 1985). The

Ninth Circuit's view is based primarily on a broad reading of the substantive due process right to

family association and the legislative history of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the precursor to

42 U.S.C. § 1983. Smith, 818 F.2d at 1418-1419.



The Ninth Circuit's analysis is flawed in both respects. First, as already discussed, the

Supreme Court has cautioned against such broad interpretations of rights under the due process

clause. See Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 720. Second, the Ninth Circuit mischaracterizes the

legislative history on which it relies. The cited passage is a statement by Representative

Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts describing the Ku Klux Klan Act as "a remedy for wrongs,

arsons, and murders done. This is what we offer to a man whose house has been burned, as a

remedy; to the woman whose husband has been murdered, as a remedy; to the children whose

father has been killed, as a remedy.” Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess. 807 (1871) (emphasis

added). But a closer look at Butler's remarks is revealing. See Michael S. Bogren, The

Constitutionalization of Consortium Claims, 68 U. DET. L. REV. 479 (1991), for an academic

discussion of this legislative history. Butler's comments were directed at § 6 of the Ku Klux

Klan Act. Globe at 800, 804, 807. That section created a remedy for the "legal representatives”

of a deceased to recover no more than $5,000 in damages "for the benefit of the widow” or "next

of kin.” See id. at 804. Section 6 is now codified as § 1986, not § 1983. See 42 U.S.C. § 1986.

Representative Butler was an opponent of this provision, who mocked it and said that he did not



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 8



believe any real cases would be decided under it. Globe at 807. ("So far as this particular

provision is concerned . . . . I look upon it as utterly useless, a mere illusion and delusion.”). He

explained he was only voting for it in an apparent horse-trade to get another part of the bill

passed. Id. ("There is not a man who believes there will ever be a verdict under it. It is here that

we may throw dust into the eyes of the people, and for no other purpose. But for all that, I will

vote for the bill . . . although opposed to many things in it, because I must take . . . the bitter with

the sweet.”). Indeed, immediately after Butler concluded his remarks, Representative (and later

president) James Garfield, an advocate for the Act, condemned Butler's continued opposition

and his attempt to "rise[] at the last moment to throw all the contempt he can upon the bill.” Id.

Garfield then took it upon himself to clarify the content of each section of the Act. Id.

This legislative history, contextualized, does not support the view that the Congress that

passed § 1983's precursor intended that all children of parents wrongfully killed or incarcerated

by police were entitled to a constitutional remedy under § 1983. And even if it did, that statutory

conclusion about the scope of § 1983 would not affect the contours of the constitutional right to

familial association under the Due Process Clause. At most, it would suggest that the children of

an individual whose constitutional rights are violated may sue derivatively under § 1983 to

vindicate the parent's constitutional rights—a proposition our case law has already rejected. See

Purnell, 925 F.2d at 948 n.6 (citing Jaco v. Bloechle, 739 F.2d 239, 241 (6th Cir. 1984)); see

also infra at 8-9.



B.



Analogous cases from this circuit confirm that no constitutional violation of the right to

family association exists without a state action directed at the family relationship. In § 1983

cases where family members of those wrongfully killed by police claim infringement of the right

to familial association, we have rejected such claims as collateral. As we explained in Claybrook

v. Birchwell, 199 F.3d 350 (6th Cir. 2000):



In the Sixth Circuit, a section 1983 cause of action is entirely personal to the

direct victim of the alleged constitutional tort. Accordingly, only the purported

victim, or his estate's representative(s), may prosecute a section 1983 claim;

conversely, no cause of action may lie under section 1983 for emotional distress,



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 9



loss of a loved one, or any other consequent collateral injuries suffered personally

by the victim's family members.



Id. at 357 (citations omitted). Denying relief for a family member permanently deprived of a

loved one through state action suggests a fortiori that relief should also be denied for those

deprived of their loved ones for temporary periods, such as through wrongful incarceration.

While Claybrook involved a plaintiff who sought to assert the constitutional rights of a deceased

family member and not his own right to familial association, this court has applied the principle

more broadly.



In unpublished cases, we have consistently rejected § 1983 claims of family members

explicitly seeking to vindicate their own constitutional right to family integrity and not the rights

of their deceased family member. See LeFever v. Ferguson, 645 F. App'x 438, 447 (6th Cir.

2016); Foos v. City of Delaware, 492 F. App'x 582, 593 (6th Cir. 2012). In Foos, we reiterated

the language from Claybrook we previously quoted and explained that even when state action

that detains or kills an individual is reframed as a deprivation of his or her relation's right to

familial association, no cause of action exists under § 1983. Id. at 592-93. Foos further rejected

the Ninth Circuit's approach in Smith of allowing such claims. Even more recently in LeFever,

we again rejected a family-integrity claim by children whose parents were killed by state police

officers. Id. at 447-48. In that opinion, the panel majority—like that in Foos—expressly

declined to follow the Ninth Circuit's approach of allowing claims by children who are deprived

of their familial relationships because their parent is wrongfully killed by a state actor. Id.

LeFever stands alongside Foos and Claybrook in rejecting similar claims to those brought by

Chambers and Smith.



Our precedent and that of most other circuits lead us to conclude that substantive due

process claims based on the right to family integrity require that the state official act with a

culpable state of mind directed at the family relationship. The due process right of familial

association does not protect against all forms of state action that impact parent-child

relationships.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 10



C.



As we explained above, actions that collaterally impact the family relationship are

insufficient to give rise to a substantive due process claim that the state has violated an

individual's right to family integrity. The government official must have, at a minimum, acted

with a culpable state of mind directed at the plaintiff's family relationship or a decision

traditionally within the ambit of the family. Thus, many state actions with collateral effects on

families are not constitutional violations. See Halley v. Huckaby, 902 F.3d 1136, 1155 (10th Cir.

2018).



To clarify this rule, two points must be made. First, the standard we adopt today will not

be met simply because a government official acted intentionally. A government official can

make a wrongful, intentional decision, as the alleged facts here demonstrate, without that intent

or the decision itself being aimed at the family relationship. Instead, as with any due process

violation, stating a claim in this context requires that the state actor act with a culpable state of

mind with respect to the plaintiffs themselves and their own alleged constitutional rights. This

rule aligns with precedent. As a baseline, the Supreme Court has held that merely negligent

conduct cannot give rise to a due process violation. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 333

(1986). A fortiori, a mere incidental harm cannot give rise to due process violation. "[T]he due

process guarantee does not entail a body of constitutional law imposing liability whenever

someone cloaked with state authority causes harm.” Lewis, 523 U.S. at 848. To rise to the level

of a "conscience shocking” violation of rights in the constitutional sense, the harm suffered by a

family member must be more than a collateral consequence of other wrongful state action. See

generally Range v. Douglas, 763 F.3d 573, 591 (6th Cir. 2014) (citing Darrah v. City of Oak

Park, 255 F.3d 301, 306 (6th Cir. 2001)) ("A government actor who has time to deliberate

shocks the conscience if the actions 'were taken with deliberate indifference towards the

plaintiff's federally protected rights.'”) (emphasis added). It is not enough that some wrongful

intent existed at some point in the chain of events.



Second, it will admittedly be a rare case in the wrongful incarceration context that meets

this standard. That rarity is appropriate in light of both the narrow scope of substantive due

process generally and our case law and that of other circuits consistently rejecting such claims in



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 11



the Fourteenth Amendment context. On the other hand, were we to dispense with the

requirement that the government action at issue target the family relationship, then every close

family member of a wrongfully incarcerated individual would have a constitutional claim based

on the incidental, even unknowing, impact of that individual's incarceration on the family

relationship. As discussed above, that conclusion cannot be squared with the Supreme Court's

case law, or that of this circuit and nearly all of our sister circuits.



D.



Applying this framework to the instant case, Chambers and Smith have not pled facts to

state a claim that Sanders's conduct was directed at interfering with their parent-child

relationship. We cannot conclude that Sanders's investigative misconduct and deliberate

indifference toward Burton's federally protected rights also amounts to "conscience shocking”

treatment of his children's federally protected rights. See also DE 1, Compl., Page ID 7

("Defendant [Sanders] . . . conspired to knowingly deprive Mr. Burton of his constitutional rights

under the 4th Amendment, and to thereby deprive Plaintiffs of their constitutional right to be

with their father.”) (emphasis added). Chambers and Smith do not allege that their rights were

targeted by Sanders, but instead that violations of their rights were an inevitable byproduct of

Sanders's violation of their father's constitutional rights. These allegations do not state a due

process claim. Therefore, we affirm the district court's dismissal of Chambers and Smith's

§ 1983 claim against Sanders in his individual capacity.



As no constitutional rights violation occurred under the facts alleged, Chambers and

Smith's Monell claim was also properly dismissed. Monell claims allow for municipal liability

"for the constitutional violations of their employees only where the municipality's policy or

custom led to the violation.” Robertson v. Lucas, 753 F.3d 606, 622 (6th Cir. 2014). However,

"[t]here can be no liability under Monell without an underlying constitutional violation.” Id.

With no underlying rights violation plausibly established in their complaint, we affirm the

district court's dismissal of Chambers and Smith's Monell claim against the city.



IV.



For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 12

_________________

DISSENT

_________________



KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge, dissenting. I respectfully disagree with the

majority's determination that Appellants failed to allege that Detective Sanders violated their

due-process rights to family association and integrity. When the state incarcerates a parent, there

are, as the majority notes, "incidental, even unknowing, impact[s] of that . . . incarceration on the

family relationship.” Majority Op. at 11. Those "incidental . . . impacts”—such as the loss of

companionship, the child's ability to hug their parent, cry on their shoulder, celebrate an

accomplishment, or turn to their parent for advice—are often devasting to the child and the

family relationship. When the conviction turns out to be in error and the parent has been

mistakenly incarcerated for a crime that they did not commit, the impacts may feel even more

tragic and severe. Though unfair and unjust, the state and its official have not necessarily

deprived the child of their due-process rights. But that is not the case before us. Instead, we are

faced with children who lost their association with their father for thirty-two years because a

police officer deliberately and intentionally procured a false conviction against their father that

condemned him to a life sentence of imprisonment.



I disagree with the majority that a state official deprives a person of their due-process

right to family association and integrity only when the state official "acted with a culpable state

of mind directed at the plaintiff's family relationship or a decision traditionally within the ambit

of the family.” Majority Op. at 10. I believe that this new requirement lacks support in our

controlling precedent. Instead, I believe that we should apply the shocks-the-conscience

standard to the official's conduct. Therefore, I would measure whether Appellees' conduct

towards the Appellants—intentionally and deliberately procuring a wrongful conviction against

their father and depriving them of their father—shocks the conscience. I would hold that when

the child loses this relationship to the perpetual absence of their parent because a state official

deliberately and intentionally procured a wrongful conviction, the official deprives the child of

their due-process right to family association and integrity. But even under the majority's test,

I nonetheless believe that Appellants' allegations and the reasonable inferences drawn from those



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 13



allegations are sufficient at the pleading stage to demonstrate that Sanders's decision was aimed

at the family relationship.



Because the majority overlooks the intentional and bad-faith nature of Appellants'

allegations, I begin there.



I. DELIBERATE AND INTENTIONAL CONDUCT



In 1987, a Wayne County jury convicted Danny Burton of first-degree murder and a

felony-firearm charge, and he received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of

parole. R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 9) (Page ID #3). After thirty-two years of incarceration—thirty-two

years of separation between parent and child—the state finally freed Appellants' father in light of

evidence of his innocence and the grossly unconstitutional and bad-faith investigation leading to

his wrongful convictions. See id. ¶ 13 (Page ID #3–4).



The relevant events began in May 1987, after the killing of Leonard Ruffin, when police

suspected Burton of the killing and arrested him. Id. ¶¶ 10, 14–15 (Page ID #3–4). According to

the Complaint, while Burton was in custody, Detective Sanders threatened, intimidated, and

inflicted physical violence on Burton to pressure him to confess to Ruffin's killing and to waive

certain constitutional rights. See id. ¶¶ 6, 16–17 (Page ID #2, 4). On Appellants' information

and belief, Sanders "knew” that their father had not killed Ruffin and knew who committed the

killing. Appellants Br. at 13; R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 25) (Page ID #6).



According to the Complaint, Sanders also suppressed exculpatory evidence, fabricated

evidence, and coerced witnesses into making false statements and false testimony through threats

and physical, mental, and emotional abuse—statements they subsequently recanted. One

witness, Felicia Gilchrist, whose trial testimony supported the convictions, later attested that she

made false statements and gave false testimony because of Sanders's threats to charge her

mother and her uncle with murder and "make sure [her] children were taken from” her. R. 1-4

(Compl., Ex. 4 (May 9, 2005 Statement)) (Page ID #28–29); see also R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 19) (Page

ID #5). Gilchrist attested in her affidavit that when Sanders first asked about Burton and his codefendants, she "told him that they were not present at the time of the shooting” but Sanders

arrested her, threatened her with the loss of her children, and threatened to charge her mother and



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 14



uncle for the murder. R. 1-4 (Compl., Ex. 4 (April 13, 2007 Aff.) ¶¶ 3, 6–7) (Page ID #32–33).

Gilchrist also attests to repeated acts of bribery by Sanders. Id. ¶ 11 (Page ID #34).

Gilchrist's mother, Lula Gilchrist, recalls a similar experience; she too gave "untrue”

testimony at trial because of Sanders's threat to "charge [her] with the murder.” R. 1-5 (Compl.,

Ex. 5 (May 5, 2005 Statement) at 1) (Page ID #36); R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 20) (Page ID #5). Another

witness, Alfreda Jackson, attested that Sanders coerced her into signing a false statement that he

drafted while she was intoxicated on cocaine. R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 22) (Page ID #5); R. 1-7 (Compl.,

Ex. 7 (April 6, 2007 Aff.) ¶ 5) (Page ID #44).



Deandre Bolden, a teenager at the time, "originally gave a statement . . . that [he] did not

see the shooting” or "the shooter” but after he was "questioned for most of a day with no food or

water” outside the presence of his mother, Sanders threatened that Bolden would be killed or

charged with the murder "if [Bolden] didn't give Det. Sanders the answered he wanted.” R. 1-8

(Compl., Ex. 8 (Dec. 13, 2010 Aff.) ¶¶ 1–2) (Page ID #47); R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 23) (Page ID #5–6).

Bolden was also "punched in the stomach and the ribs.” R. 1-8 (Compl., Ex. 8 (Dec. 13, 2010

Aff.) ¶¶ 1, 3) (Page ID #47). Bolden attested to similar coercion and physical violence when he

tried to testify truthfully at trial. See id. ¶ 3 (Page ID #47). The Complaint also alleges that

"Detroit Police officers abused” Clara Hill Williams—also a minor at the time—and "kept her in

a room for hours without letting her go to the bathroom and forced her to sign a statement that

she did not make” that Burton and his co-defendants committed the killing. R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 24)

(Page ID #6); R. 1-9 (Compl., Ex. 9 (Feb. 9, 2011 Interview) at 1–3) (Page ID #49–51). Then,

during trial, an "officer also kept her in a room over night to stop her from testifying at trial,

knowing that she would contradict the prosecution's theory of the case.” R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 24)

(Page ID #6). Williams attested that she "thought [the police officers] were going to kill [her].”

R. 1-9 (Compl., Ex. 9 at 3) (Page ID #51).



According to Appellants, the "fabricated evidence was material to [both] a finding of

probable cause” in support of Burton's arrest and a guilty verdict against Burton. R. 1 (Compl.

¶¶ 61–62) (Page ID #14). By knowingly suppressing exculpatory evidence before Burton's trial,

(e.g., id. ¶¶ 28, 32, 45 (Page ID #7–8, 12)), and coercing and eliciting false testimony (e.g., id.

¶¶ 19–24, 34, 55–56 (Page ID #5–6, 8, 13)), Sanders and the City tore Appellants' father away



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 15



from them for thirty-two years, deprived them of their right to a family unit, and caused them to

"grow up fatherless.” Id. ¶¶ 26, 50 (Page ID #6–7, 11).



Undoubtedly, Appellants' Complaint contains numerous allegations regarding Sanders's

and the City's efforts to deprive Burton of his constitutional rights. Though a poor decision to

include so many references to the deprivation of Burton's constitutional rights in a case alleging

the deprivation of only Burton's children's rights, that same underlying conduct serves as the

factual predicate for Appellants' claims before this court—that Sanders and the City "targeted

Mr. Burton['s] . . . family,” (R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 31) (Page ID #8)), by intentionally, knowingly, and

in bad-faith depriving them of their father for decades. Just because Appellants erroneously also

included allegations that Burton's rights were violated does not erase their allegations regarding

their own rights. The majority should have just disregarded the references to how Sanders's and

the City's conduct violated Burton's rights as merely irrelevant and superfluous to Appellants'

claims, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. Napolitano, 648 F.3d 365, 370 (6th Cir. 2011),

rather than use those allegations to frame Appellants' claims, Majority Op. at 6.

From the Complaint, I draw two common-sense inferences. See Ryan v. Blackwell, 979

F.3d 519, 524 (6th Cir. 2020). First, Sanders—"an experienced [and] well-trained police officer”

and detective (R. 1 (Compl. ¶¶ 6, 29) (Page ID #2, 7))—spent months investigating Burton for

first-degree murder and presumably knew that the suspect of his investigation had children, (R. 1

(Compl. ¶¶ 9–10) (Page ID #3); see also id. ¶ 31 (Page ID #8)). Second, as an experienced

officer and detective, Sanders would certainly know, better than most, that incarceration

separates families. That Sanders had a deep appreciation for the consequences of what would

happen to the family unit by wrongfully incarcerating someone is further strengthened by

testimony that Sanders actually linked incarceration with the breaking of the family unit. The

sworn testimony of Felicia Gilchrist demonstrates his understanding of this link. See R. 1-4

(Compl., Ex. 4 (April 13, 2007 Aff.) ¶¶ 3, 6–7) (Page ID #32–33) (attesting Sanders arrested her

and threatened her with the loss of her children and jail time for her mother and uncle). To me,

this indicates Sanders's knowledge that wrongful incarceration destroys the family unit. Thus, I

believe we could reasonably infer that Sanders knew that Burton had children and knew that

incarcerating him for the duration of his life would destroy Appellants' family unit.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 16



II. THE RECIPROCAL NATURE OF THE DUE-PROCESS RIGHT TO

FAMILY ASSOCIATION AND INTEGRITY



Our precedent well establishes "that the relationship between parent and child is

constitutionally protected.” Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 255 (1978); Kottmyer v. Maas,

436 F.3d 684, 689 (6th Cir. 2006) ("[U]nder the constitution, the parent-child relation gives rise

to a liberty interest.”). The Supreme Court's numerous decisions regarding the Due Process

Clause's protection of this relationship "made plain beyond the need for multiple citation that a

parent's desire for and right to 'the companionship, care, custody, and management of his or her

children' is an important interest that 'undeniably warrants deference and, absent a powerful

countervailing interest, protection.'” Lassiter v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of Durham Cnty., 452 U.S.

18, 27 (1981) (quoting Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651 (1972)); see also Schulkers v.

Kammer, 955 F.3d 520, 539–40 (6th Cir. 2020). The "attempt to force the breakup of a natural

family, over the objections of the parents and their children,” absent "some showing of

unfitness” "offend[s]” the Due Process Clause. Quilloin, 434 U.S. at 255 (quoting Smith v. Org.

of Foster Fams. For Equal. & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 862–63 (1977) (Stewart, J., concurring in

the judgment)). "[F]ew consequences of judicial action are so grave as the severance of natural

family ties.” M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102, 119 (1996) (quoting Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S.

745, 787 (1982) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting)). These principles have deep roots in our caselaw.

The majority overlooks the unique nature of the due-process right to family association

and integrity—it is a reciprocal right that exists within one shared relationship between multiple

people. Kovacic v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 724 F.3d 687, 700 (6th Cir.

2013) (rejecting argument that only parents had a liberty interest in parent-child relationship

because "the Supreme Court has described the due-process right as one that applies to both

children and parents”); Duchesne v. Sugarman, 566 F.2d 817, 825 (2d Cir. 1977) ("This right to

the preservation of family integrity encompasses the reciprocal rights of both parent and

children.” (emphasis added)). A parent has an "interest . . . in the 'companionship, care, custody

and management of his or her children,'” id. (quoting Stanley, 405 U.S. at 651), and children

maintain an interest "in not being dislocated from the 'emotional attachments that derive from

No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 17

the intimacy of daily association,' with the parent,”1

id. (quoting Smith v. Org. of Foster Fams.



For Equal. & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 844 (1977)); see also Kovacic, 724 F.3d at 700; Wooley v.

City of Baton Rouge, 211 F.3d 913, 923 (5th Cir. 2000) ("[A] child's right to family integrity is

concomitant to that of a parent.”); Smith v. City of Fontana, 818 F.2d 1411, 1417–19 (9th Cir.

1987), overruled on other grounds by Hodgers-Durgin v. de la Vina, 199 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir.

1999) (recognizing right's reciprocal nature and children's cognizable liberty "interest in the

continued companionship” of their parent). "This mutual interest in an interdependent

relationship has received consistent support in the cases of the Supreme Court.” Duchesne, 566

F.2d at 825. Unlike many other rights, here conduct that deprives one family member of their

ability to associate with their family likewise deprives the family of their constitutional right and

ability to associate with that member. This reciprocal nature of the right means that conduct

alleged to deprive each person of their rights to family association will also overlap. This reality

should inform determinations regarding whether a state official has violated the right.



III. THE MAJORITY'S "STATE OF MIND” REQUIREMENT

LACKS SUPPORT IN PRECEDENT



The majority's introduction of a "state of mind” requirement lacks a basis in our

precedent and conflates the required degree of culpability of an official's actions with a state-ofmind requirement. First, § 1983 itself "contains no independent state-of-mind requirement.”

Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 328 (1986); see also Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 187

(1961) (rejecting specific-intent requirement for § 1983 claims). Second, the Supreme Court's

1The Second Circuit in Duchesne recognized the tremendous importance of this reciprocal liberty interest

to both the parent and the child.



[T]he reciprocal liberty interest of parent and child in the familial bond between them[] need[s] no

greater justification than that they comport with each state's fundamental constitutional

commitment to individual freedom and human dignity. But the right of parents to raise their

children as they think best, free of coercive intervention, comports as well with each child's

biological and psychological need for unthreatened and unbroken continuity of care by his parents.

No other animal is for so long a time after birth in so helpless a state that its survival depends upon

continuous nurture by an adult. Although breaking or weakening the ties to the responsible and

responsive adults may have different consequences for children of different ages, there is little

doubt that such breaches in the familial bond will be detrimental to a child's well-being.

566 F.2d at 825 n.19 (quoting Goldstein, Medical Care for the Child at Risk: On State Supervention of Parental

Autonomy, 86 Yale L.J. 645, 649–50 (1977)).



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 18



precedent instructs that we ask whether the official's conduct shocks the conscience to determine

whether an executive official violated a person's substantive-due-process rights. But the

majority looks outside this framework and instead turns to other sibling circuits to impose a

state-of-mind requirement—a requirement with an outdated and mooted rationale.



In 1985, the Tenth Circuit appears to have first introduced a requirement similar to

today's majority's when it "conclude[d] that an allegation of intent to interfere with a particular

relationship protected by the freedom of intimate association is required to state a claim under

section 1983.” Trujillo v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs of Santa Fe Cnty., 768 F.2d 1186, 1190 (10th

Cir. 1985). One of Trujillo's rationales for the requirement was that allowing such claims in

instances of government negligence would swallow § 1983 and flood the courts with cases. See

id. Its specific-intent requirement served to "provide a logical stopping place for such claims.”

Id.; see also Halley v. Huckaby, 902 F.3d 1136, 1155 (10th Cir. 2018) ("[W]hen our court first

applied this intent requirement in Trujillo . . . we did so to prevent this doctrine from turning all

negligent torts leading to the death of a child into constitutional violations. Some degree of

severity was required, we explained, to 'provide a logical stopping place for such claims.'”

(quoting Trujillo, 768 F.2d at 1190)). Trujillo noted that "other courts ha[d] not imposed any

state of mind requirement to find a deprivation of intimate associational rights.” 768 F.2d at

1190 (emphasis added).



The Supreme Court, shortly thereafter, alleviated the need for the "logical stopping place

for” due-process claims. See id. First, in Daniels, it determined that negligent conduct could not

give rise to a Due Process Clause violation. 474 U.S. at 334. Then, in County of Sacramento v.

Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 849 (1998), the Court explained that under the shocks-the-conscience

standard for substantive-due-process violations, which applies to executive action, an official's

conduct constitutes a due-process violation when the official's conduct is "something more than

negligence,” and is either intentional conduct or conduct that is "less than intentional conduct,

such as recklessness or gross negligence.” Id. (quoting Daniels, 474 U.S. at 334 & n.3).

With the benefit of Daniels, the Ninth Circuit examined Trujillo's specific-intent

requirement and explained why Daniels rendered that requirement unnecessary. City of

Fontana, 818 F.2d at 1420 n.12. City of Fontana explained:



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 19



Trujillo imposed this requirement of specific intent on a claim of interference with

the familial relationship in order to avoid throwing open the judicial floodgates to

claims based on merely negligent acts. Now that Daniels has closed this potential

floodgate by requiring the act causing the deprivation to have been more than

simply negligent, Trujillo's additional focus on the state actor's motivation is no

longer necessary to serve its purpose.



Id. (citations omitted). City of Fontana "therefore decline[d] to follow Trujillo” and established

that "[a]s long as the state official's action which deprived the plaintiffs of their liberty was more

than merely negligent, the plaintiffs can state a section 1983 claim without further alleging that

the official was trying to break up their family.” Id.



Lewis specifically framed the inquiry as "[w]hether the point of the conscience shocking

is reached when injuries are produced with culpability falling within the middle range, following

from something more than negligence but 'less than intentional conduct, such as recklessness or

gross negligence.'” 523 U.S. at 849 (emphasis added). The Supreme Court told us to measure

the injury and the official's conduct from which it flowed. See id. Lewis recognized that in

instances governed by "unforeseen circumstances [that] demand an officer's instant judgment,”

conduct will rise to the level of conscience shocking where the officer has "a purpose to cause

harm.” 523 U.S. 853–54. It expressly distinguished between other instances in which

government officials have the benefit of time—an "extended opportunit[y] to do better.” Id. at

853. Lewis thus affords some latitude in the determination of whether a state official's conduct

shocks the conscience by contextualizing the officer's conduct with the speed and circumstances

of the events at issue. See id. at 853–54. Like Daniels, Lewis addressed the Tenth Circuit's

judicial-economy concerns by elaborating on the spectrum of conduct that shocks the

conscience. It also indicates that, when, as here, an official had an "extended opportunit[y] to do

better,” Lewis, 523 U.S. at 853, a specific intent is not required to establish a due-process

violation.



Like City of Fontana, I agree that a pre-Daniel and pre-Lewis justification for such an

intent requirement no longer remains applicable. Contrary to the majority's assertion, nothing

about applying the shocks-the-conscience standard would "impose[] strict liability” and "hold[] a

government actor automatically responsible for incidental harms flowing from his actions.”

Majority Op. at 6. They would face liability only when their conduct shocks the conscience—



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 20



"a tough test” "[t]o say the least,” id. at 4—and when they caused the plaintiff's injury, Powers

v. Hamilton Cnty. Pub. Def. Comm'n, 501 F.3d 592, 608 (6th Cir. 2007). Further, that other

circuit courts followed Trujillo is not a reason to adopt an outdated and moot requirement.

In addition to the fact that there no longer remains a need for a "logical stopping place

for” such due-process claims, Trujillo, 768 F.2d at 1190, the requirement that the official's

"intent or the decision itself be[] aimed at the family relationship,” Majority Op. at 10, is

arbitrary. I offer an example to highlight the arbitrariness of this requirement. A police officer,

angry that their child is bullied in school, chooses to punish their child's bully, so the police

officer deliberately and wrongfully frames their parent for murder and incarcerates the bully's

parent for thirty-two years. The majority, I presume, would consider this to be a violation of the

child's right to family association and integrity. This example, of course, presents the exact

same misconduct and injury alleged by the Chambers brothers. There is only one difference that,

according to the majority, makes these circumstances constitutionally distinguishable—the

officer's motive for why they destroyed the family unit—despite the same bad-faith investigation

and persisting with the wrongful conviction while knowing with substantial certainty the

deprivation that would result. "Appropriate limits on substantive due process come not from

drawing arbitrary lines but rather from careful 'respect for the teachings of history [and] solid

recognition of the basic values that underlie our society.'” Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431

U.S. 494, 503 (1977) (alteration in original) (quoting Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 501

(1968) (Harlan, J., concurring)).



The majority cites several cases concerning the right to family association and says that

these cases involve "state actions directed at the family relationship . . . or state regulation of

decisions within the ambit of parental control,” or in the case of Moore, the extended family.

Majority Op. at 4 (collecting cases). It lists, as examples, "educational decisions, the choice of

living arrangements, and the choice to have children.” Id. But by deliberately procuring the

wrongful conviction of Appellants' father despite knowing of his innocence, the state, here too,

interfered with parental decisions regarding education, living arrangements, the size of the

family, and custody. Having inflicted these same injuries on Appellants' family, that Detective

Sanders may have had other or additional motivations for his conduct, I believe, is not of



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 21



constitutional significance when he intentionally or knowingly procured this result. I simply fail

to see how intentionally procuring a wrongful conviction and incarcerating a father for thirty-two

years is not an intrusion into the decision to have a parent involved in their child's education,

Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399–400 (1923); the "choice[] concerning [the] family living

arrangement[],” Moore, 431 U.S. at 499; and the parental-custody arrangement, see Troxel v.

Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 68–69, 72–73 (2000).



The majority's next basis for its decision, some published "analogous cases” in the Sixth

Circuit, also fails to support its new requirement. I find little analogy in these cases as they

considered whether a plaintiff can bring a § 1983 claim to remedy the state's deprivation of a

family member's rights. In Jaco v. Bloechle, 739 F.2d 239, 240 (6th Cir. 1984), we considered a

mother's § 1983 claim wherein the mother alleged "violations of the decedent's civil rights” and

requested relief for "compensation under Ohio's wrongful death statute.” Id. (emphasis added).

Because the mother argued that her son's constitutional rights had been deprived—not hers—we

explained that "[b]y its own terminology, [§ 1983] grants the cause of action 'to the party

injured[]' [and a]ccordingly, it is an action personal to the injured party.” Id. at 241 (quoting

42 U.S.C. § 1983). In Purnell v. City of Akron, 925 F.2d 941 (6th Cir. 1991), we considered "a

survival action based on the violation of decedent's constitutional rights by defendants” brought

under § 1983 that sought "damages only for a violation of [the decedent]'s constitutional rights”

and a second claim brought under Ohio's wrongful death statute. Id. at 943, 948 (first emphasis

added).2



Similarly, in Claybrook v. Birchwell, 199 F.3d 350 (6th Cir. 2000), we focused only on

causes of action brought in the plaintiffs' representative capacity that alleged the deprivation of

their decedent-father's constitutional rights. We interpreted the action as one in which plaintiffs

sued as "heirs at law” in both counts one and two regarding defendants' "violat[ion of] the civil

rights [of the decedent]” and stated that "[Plaintiffs] adequately requested compensation for [the

decedent's] alleged constitutional injuries in their representative capacities as co-administrators

2We "d[id] not address the merits of the difficult question of whether the children of [the decedent] . . .

could state a claim for damages under section 1983 based on the killing of their father.” Purnell, 925 F.2d at 948

n.6.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 22



of his estate.” Id. at 356–57. Thus, our statement that "a section 1983 cause of action is entirely

personal to the direct victim of the alleged constitutional tort” reflects that procedural posture

and firmly squares with instances in which a plaintiff's § 1983 claim does not allege a violation

of their own constitutional rights but rather seeks redress only for a violation of another

individual's constitutional rights. See id. at 357. That is why we instructed that "only the

purported victim, or his estate's representative(s), may prosecute a section 1983 claim.” See id.

Claybrook's dicta that "no cause of action may lie under section 1983 for emotional distress, loss

of a loved one, or any other consequent collateral injuries allegedly suffered personally by the

victim's family members,” id., must also be read in the context of the procedural posture and

claims asserted before the Claybrook court. Having read the complaint to seek redress of only

the decedent's constitutional injury, not the plaintiffs', Claybrook determined that "the amended

complaint['s] alleg[ations] . . . [stating] that '[a]s a result of the wrongful acts of the defendants,

plaintiffs . . . incurred medical and funeral expenses, as well as great emotional loss associated

with the wrongful death of their father,'” were not redressable under § 1983. See id. at 356–57

(final alteration in original). These injuries, as alleged, were not a deprivation of rights secured

by the Constitution or laws of the United States. See id. Claybrook neither defines the scope of

the constitutional right nor precludes a plaintiff from bringing a § 1983 claim to redress their

own constitutional injuries merely because those injuries intertwine with another family

member's injury. See Ghaith v. Rauschenberger, 493 F. App'x 731, 739 (6th Cir. 2012) ("A

state may not interfere with this liberty interest, and indeed the violation of the right to family

integrity is subject to remedy under § 1983.” (quoting Rosenbaum v. Washoe County, 663 F.3d

1071, 1079 (9th Cir. 2011)).3



IV. APPLYING THE SHOCKS-THE-CONSCIENCE STANDARD



I would hold that Appellees' conduct shocks the conscience. Substantive due process

affords "freedom from government actions that 'shock the conscience.'” Range v. Douglas, 763

F.3d 573, 588 (6th Cir. 2014) (quoting Bell v. Ohio State Univ., 351 F.3d 240, 249–50 (6th Cir.



3



See also Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 685 (9th Cir. 2001) (explaining "[i]t is well established



that a parent has a fundamental liberty interest in the companionship and society of his or her child . . . [that] extends

to protect children from unwarranted state interference with their relationships with their parents” and is redressable

under § 1983 (internal quotations omitted)).



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 23

2003)). The doctrine, at its core, protects against arbitrary government action—"government

power arbitrarily and oppressively exercised.” Lewis, 523 U.S. at 846.

Courts have found that an officer's conduct in both criminal and child-protectiveservices-investigations4 could shock the conscience and, in some instances, deprive a plaintiff of

their due-process right to familial association. See Ghaith, 493 F. App'x at 739 (considering

whether criminal investigation deprived plaintiff of right to family association); Kottmyer, 436

F.3d at 690–91, 691 n.1 (considering whether child-protective-services investigation deprived

parents of right to family association); Kolley v. Adult Protective Servs., 725 F.3d 581, 585–86

(6th Cir. 2013) (same); Heithcock v. Tenn. Dep't of Child.'s Servs., No. 15-6236, 2016 WL

11786416, at *1–2, *4 (6th Cir. 2016) (order) (same). Allegations of a bad-faith investigation

are particularly important in this determination. See Heithcock, 2016 WL 11786416, at *1–2, *4.

Courts have also examined whether deliberately procuring a wrongful conviction against

someone shocks the conscience. See, e.g., Winslow v. Smith, 696 F.3d 716, 731, 736 (8th Cir.

2012). Another court has also determined that an "unwarranted state interference” with the

protected relationship between parent and child occurred when the police extradited the wrong

person from Los Angeles to New York, where they were wrongfully incarcerated for two years.

See Lee, 250 F.3d at 685; see also id. at 677–78, 686. The wrongful extradition and

incarceration violated the incarcerated-individual's mother's right to family association and

integrity. See id. at 685–86.



An official's acts that "violate[] the 'decencies of civilized conduct'” shock the

conscience. Lewis, 523 U.S. at 846 (quoting Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172–73

(1952)). "Such conduct includes actions 'so brutal and offensive that [they do] not comport with



4



In child-protective-services cases, though "[m]ere investigation by authorities into child abuse allegations

without more . . . does not infringe upon a parent's right to custody or control of a child,” an exception exists when

"the investigation was undertaken in bad faith or with a malicious motive or if tactics used to investigate would

'shock the conscience.'” Kottmyer, 436 F.3d at 690–91, 691 n.1; Kolley v. Adult Protective Servs., 725 F.3d 581,

585 (6th Cir. 2013) ("[A] government investigation of child abuse will not automatically implicate the right to

familial association absent 'evidence of bad faith, improper motive, or investigation tactics that shock the

conscience.'” (citation omitted) (quoting Teets v. Cuyahoga County, 460 F. App'x 498, 502 (6th Cir. 2012)). In

Heithcock v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services, No. 15-6236, 2016 WL 11786416, at *1–2, *4 (6th Cir.

2016) (order), we applied this principle and held that because the plaintiff alleged that a child-protective-services

employee conducted the investigation in bad faith depriving her of her right to family association, the district court

erred by granting the defendant qualified immunity.



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 24



traditional ideas of fair play and decency.'” Range, 763 F.3d at 589–90 (alteration in original)

(quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 847). Conscience-shocking conduct is "arbitrary in the

constitutional sense.” Lewis, 523 U.S. at 846 (quoting Collins v. Harker Heights, 503 U.S. 115,

129 (1992)). "[T]he 'shocks the conscience' standard is not a font of tort law, but is instead a

way to conceptualize the sort of egregious behavior that rises to the level of a substantive due

process violation.” Range, 763 F.3d at 590 (quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 847–48).



We have offered a spectrum of conduct to guide our conscience-shocking inquiry. "The

bookends present the easier cases. Merely negligent tortious conduct is categorically beneath

constitutional due process, but conduct on the other extreme end of the culpability spectrum, that

which is 'intended to injure' without any justifiable government interest, most clearly rises to the

'conscience-shocking' level.” Id. (quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 849). Conduct that is "something

more than negligence but less than intentional conduct” and more akin to gross negligence,

Guertin v. State, 912 F.3d 907, 923 (6th Cir. 2019) (quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 849),

"recklessness or gross recklessness, such as deliberate indifference” falls in the middle, Range,

763 F.3d at 590. Whether this conduct shocks the conscience "depend[s] on the context.”

Range, 763 F.3d at 590 (quoting Hunt v. Sycamore Cmty. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 542 F.3d 529,

535 (6th Cir. 2008)).



When we consider the middle of the spectrum to determine deliberate indifference, we

examine "a multitude of considerations when evaluating an official's alleged arbitrariness in the

constitutional sense, including the time for deliberation, the nature of the relationship between

the government and the plaintiff, and whether a legitimate government purpose motivated the

official's act.” Guertin, 912 F.3d at 924 ("These factors help elucidate Lewis's broader point that

simply making bad choices does not rise to the level of deliberate indifference.”). Critical to our

analysis of deliberate indifference is "whether the circumstances allowed the state actors time to

fully consider the potential consequences of their conduct.” Range, 763 F.3d at 590 (quoting

Ewolski v. City of Brunswick, 287 F.3d 492, 510 (6th Cir. 2002)). We have highlighted that

though "a police officer who exhibits a reckless disregard for life during a high-speed chase does

not shock the conscience because the circumstances require instant judgment,” on the other hand

"an officer who has five hours to decide whether to use tear gas and forced entry during a



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 25



standoff might shock the conscience if the officer is deliberately indifferent to the risks posed to

hostages.” Id. We consider, among other things, the amount of time for deliberation when

"determining whether the actor's culpability 'inch[es] close enough to harmful purpose to spark

the shock that implicates' substantive due process.” Id. at 590–91 (alteration in original)

(quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 853) ("For assessing whether conduct indicates harmful purpose and,

thus, constitutional culpability, both the substance of the risk and the time the official had to

appreciate it matter.”).



Here, in determining whether to apply the shocks-the-conscience standard to Appellants'

claim, both Range and this majority's emphasis on the word "plaintiff's” when citing Range,

Majority Op. at 10, are illuminating. In Range, we stated that "[a] government actor who has

time to deliberate shocks the conscience if the actions 'were taken with deliberate indifference

towards the plaintiff's federally protected rights.'” 763 F.3d at 591 (quoting Darrah v. City of

Oak Park, 255 F.3d 301, 306 (6th Cir. 2001)) (emphasis added). The plaintiffs in Range were, in

fact, the family members of a deceased woman who had been sexually abused after her death by

a morgue attendant. Id. at 578. On appeal, we considered the family's substantive-due-process

claims against county officials who allegedly knew or had reason to know of the morgue

attendant's sexual abuse of deceased women at the morgue. Id. at 578–79. We applied the

shocks-the-conscience standard to determine whether the county officials' conduct violated the

family members' substantive-due-process rights. Id. at 589–91. We therefore examined the full

scope of the county officials' conduct; we considered "the type of harm, the level of risk of the

harm occurring, and the time available to consider the risk of harm . . . [to] determine[e] whether

[the] official[s] w[ere] deliberately indifferent.” See id. at 591. We ultimately determined that

insufficient evidence existed at the summary-judgment stage to reasonably infer that the county

officials "acted with indifference towards the rights of the families involved.” Id. (emphasis

added).



Here too, I would examine the full scope of Sanders's conduct to evaluate the claim that

he deprived Appellants of their rights to family association and integrity. Considering

Appellants' allegations as true, as we must, I believe that Appellants adequately alleged that

Sanders's conduct shocks the conscience. They allege that Sanders and the City acted



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 26



"intentionally, . . . purposefully, . . . recklessly, deliberately, maliciously, knowingly, carelessly,

[and] with gross negligence” when conducting the investigation that caused the decades-long

separation between them and their father. R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 8) (Page ID #2–3). They demonstrate

as much by alleging a grotesque scheme by Appellees to threaten, intimidate, coerce, and

mentally, emotionally, and physically abuse Burton and numerous witnesses during the criminal

investigation; to fabricate evidence; and to suppress exculpatory evidence demonstrating

Burton's innocence. Id. ¶¶ 16–25, 28–41, 49–65 (Page ID #4–14).



The risks and consequences of physically, mentally, and emotionally abusing witnesses

to obtain false statements and testimony, fabricating evidence, and refusing to turn over

exculpatory evidence in order wrongfully to convict an innocent person and deprive them of their

family—and necessarily deprive their family of them—are self-apparent and extreme. And

Gilchrist's testimony of Sanders's threats of incarceration to deprive her of her family further

demonstrate Sanders's understanding and appreciation of these risks. Further, Sanders had

months between Ruffin's death and Burton's trial "to deliberate” and "fully consider the

potential consequences of [his] conduct,” but Sanders stayed the course. See Range, 763 F.3d at

590–91 (quoting Ewolski, 287 F.3d at 510); R. 1 (Compl. ¶¶ 9–10) (Page ID #3). In fact,

Sanders's and the City's alleged heinous behavior persisted during the trial when an officer "kept

[a fourteen-year-old witness] in a room over night to stop her from testifying at trial, knowing

that she would contradict the prosecution's theory of the case” by "testif[ying] that Mr. Burton

did not commit the crime.” R. 1 (Compl. ¶ 24) (Page ID #6); see also R. 1-9 (Compl., Ex. 9 at

2–3) (Page ID #50–51). Police also "punched and threatened” another witness during trial "to

make [the witness] change [their] testimony.” R. 1-8 (Compl., Ex. 8 at 1) (Page ID #47).

Other courts considering similarly abhorrent criminal investigations involving fabricated

evidence and the suppression of exculpatory evidence found the conduct conscience shocking.

See, e.g., Winslow, 696 F.3d at 731–36 (reviewing plaintiffs' claims that law enforcement

deprived them of their due-process liberty interest in a fair criminal proceeding by recklessly

investigating and fabricating evidence in a rape and murder investigation causing them to plead

guilty to crimes they had not committed). Law enforcement's decision to "ignore[] exonerating

evidence,” id. at 731, "systematically coach[] witnesses into providing false testimony that was



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 27



in line with the narrative of [law enforcements]'s theory as to how the murder had been

committed,” id. at 732–33, "exert pressure on vulnerable witnesses to provide testimony that was

not within those witnesses' personal memory,” id. at 735, and "campaign to manufacture

evidence to implicate” the suspects, id. at 734, shocked the conscience, id. at 736.

The extent of brutality and malfeasance alleged here differs substantially from the kind of

deficient government investigations that do not shock the conscience. See, e.g., Palmer v.

Adams, 517 F. App'x 308, 310–11 (6th Cir. 2013) (finding failures to interview certain

witnesses, consider results of medical examination, and consider certain statements not to shock

the conscience in child-protective-services case); Akins v. Epperly, 588 F.3d 1178, 1184 (8th Cir.

2009) (finding criminal investigation did not shock the conscience because there was no

evidence that law enforcement "purposefully ignored evidence suggesting [the accused's]

innocence,” "intended to misconstrue the evidence against [the accused],” or "was pressured to

implicate [the accused] or to improperly strengthen the state's case against him”).

Sanders engaged in conscience-shocking conduct when he intentionally and deliberately

procured a wrongful conviction that incarcerated Appellants' father for thirty-two years, directly

depriving Appellants of their family association. It does not matter that Sanders's primary

motivation may not have been to harm the relationship. Thus, I would hold that Sanders violated

Appellants' rights to family association and integrity because his conduct shocks the conscience.



V. EVEN UNDER THE MAJORITY'S TEST, APPELLANTS SHOULD PREVAIL

BECAUSE THEY SUFFICIENTLY PLEADED THAT SANDERS'S CONDUCT

WAS DIRECTED AT THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIP



I would perhaps agree with the majority that many "incidental harms,” Majority Op. at 6,

on the family relationship arising from "routine interaction[s],” id. at 5, between government

officials and a family member do not amount to a due-process violation. I, however, find

nothing about the allegations in this case to be "routine” and nothing about Sanders's conduct to

be "incidental.” And I fail to see how deliberately and wrongfully incarcerating a father for the

duration of his life is not a "decision . . . aimed at the family relationship.” Id. at 10. As I note

above, I believe that the panel can reasonably infer that Sanders knew that the Burton had



No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 28



children5 and knew that incarcerating him for the duration of his life would result in the

destruction of their family unit. These inferences, alongside the intentional, deliberate, and

knowing conduct of Detective Sanders, supply enough support to overcome a motion to dismiss

regarding whether Sanders "acted with a culpable state of mind directed at the plaintiff's family

relationship or a decision traditionally within the ambit of the family.” Id. at 10.

Despite knowing that deliberately and wrongfully incarcerating Burton would deprive his

children of their father for the remainder of his life, Detective Sanders nonetheless took actions

to carry out that consequence. As the Restatement of Torts instructs, a person acts with intent

when they desire to or have the purpose of bringing about certain consequences or when they

"act[] knowing that the consequence is substantially certain to result.” Restatement (Third) of

Torts: Phys. & Emo. Harm § 1 & cmts. a–c (Am. L. Inst. 2010).6



The majority believes that



"[a] government official can make a wrongful, intentional decision . . . without that intent or the

decision itself being aimed at the family relationship.” Majority Op. at 10. It "requires that the

state actor act with a culpable state of mind with respect to the plaintiffs themselves and their

own alleged constitutional rights.” Id. That Sanders may have had other motivations while

doing so does not negate that he "act[ed] knowing that the consequence” of destroying the family

unit "[wa]s substantially certain to result,” Restatement (Third) of Torts § 1(b),7 yet affirmatively

proceeded to do so anyway. Under these circumstances, I believe that the law should treat

Sanders as having "acted with a culpable state of mind directed at the plaintiff's family

relationship or a decision traditionally within the ambit of the family.” Majority Op. at 10.

And we should remember that Appellants allege that Sanders targeted their family. R. 1 (Compl.

¶ 31) (Page ID #8).



5To the extent the majority believes that it is necessary for Sanders to know that Burton had children before

finding that his decision to separate Burton from the family violated Appellants' constitutional rights, I believe

Appellants should be entitled to discovery on this point.



6



See also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 8A & cmt. b (Am. L. Inst. 1965) (explaining that when "the

actor knows that the consequences are certain, or substantially certain, to result from his act, and still goes ahead, he

is treated by the law as if he had in fact desired to produce the result”).



7



See also Restatement (Third) of Torts § 1 cmts. a–c; Restatement (Second) of Torts § 8A & cmt. b.that

No. 22-1446 Chambers, et al. v. Sanders, et al. Page 29



VI. CONCLUSION



Only by "clos[ing] our eyes to the basic reasons why certain rights associated with the

family have been accorded shelter under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause,”

could we "avoid applying the force and rationale of [our] precedents to the family choice[s]” and

the family unit taken from the Appellants. See Moore, 431 U.S. at 501 (rejecting the attempt to

distinguish other precedents because of differences in certain facts before the Court). The

"caution and restraint” required of us when considering substantive-due-process rights "does not

counsel abandonment . . . [or] cutting off any protection of family rights at the first convenient, if

not arbitrary boundary.” Id. at 502. I would have exercised this "caution and restraint”

differently. I would therefore reverse and remand to the district court for further consideration of

Appellants' claims

Affirmed