Procedural Due Process

Question 1

State the meaning of Procedural Due Process

Answer 1

Prior to depriving an individual of life, liberty, or certain property rights, the government must provide procedures to ensure that the decision is fair

Question 2

If the government is going to limit your rights in various ways, it has to offer you

Answer 2

fair processes (procedural due process)

Question 3

Name some elements of procedural due process

Answer 3

Notice, hearing, impartial fact-finder, representation by counsel, presentation of evidence, cross-examination, based on factual evidence that satisfies “clear and convincing evidence standard,” verbatim transcript for appeal, an appeal

Question 4

What are three of the most basic elements of procedural due process?

Answer 4

1. Notice
2. Hearing
3. Impartial fact-finder

Question 5

How would one determine how “much” process is due?

Answer 5

The nature and number of procedures required varies with the seriousness of the restrictions imposed

The more serious the restrictions, the more thorough the procedures required to ensure fairness

Question 6

What are the 3 factors courts balance, as of Matthews v Eldridge, 1976?

Answer 6

1. Nature of the interests involved
2. Risk of erroneous deprivation of liberty
3. Fiscal or administrative burdens

Question 7

Which amendments prohibit the government from depriving individuals of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”?

Answer 7

Fifth and Fourth

Question 8

Name two interests in the contect of public health under procedural due process

Answer 8

1. Property
2. Liberty

Question 9

What statutory authority do health departments possess? (as an example of property interests under procedural due process)

Answer 9

Take, destroy, or restrict property uses to prevent risks to the health or safety of the community

Question 10

How does the Supreme Court define a “property interest”?

Answer 10

More than an asbtract need, desire, or unilateral expectation; the person must “have a legitimate claim of entitlement”.

Question 11

Under the reasoning of *Goldber v. Kelly (1970), *an “entitlement” is

Answer 11

is measured by the importance of the interest tot he person’s life

Without welfare, for example, a person may not obtain the necessities of life

Question 12

The Supreme Court has held that a benefit is

Answer 12

Not a protected entitlement if government officials may grant or deny it at their discretion.

Question 13

Explain the role discretion played in Castle Rock v. Gonzales (2005)

Answer 13

The Court found that police had “discretion” not to enforce a domestic violence restraining order, even though the order specifically declared a state statute commanded that it must be enforced.

Question 14

How does the Supreme Court define liberty interests?

Answer 14

“not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God…, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized… as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”

Question 15

Procedural due process classically is required in any case where public health authorities interefere with:

Answer 15

freedom of movement (e.g., isolation and quarantine)

or

bodily integrity (e.g., compulsory physical examination and medical treatment)