The following excerpt is from Cotta v. Cnty. of Kings, 79 F.Supp.3d 1148 (E.D. Cal. 2015):
Cases finding a violation of a Fourteenth Amendment due process right to familial relations generally are based on a government actor's affirmative conduct that violates the right.See Porter v. Osborn, 546 F.3d 1131, 1137 (9th Cir.2008) (In our cases ... we have distinguished the purpose to harm standard from the deliberate indifference standard, recognizing that the overarching test under either is whether the officer's conduct shocks the conscience. (emphasis added)). This makes sense given that (1) [t]he threshold question ... is whether the behavior of the governmental officer is so egregious, so outrageous, that it may fairly be said to shock the contemporary conscience, Lewis, 523 U.S. at 847 n. 8, 118 S.Ct. 1708 (emphasis added); and (2) the determinative factor as to whether the deliberate indifference or purpose to harm standard applies is whether the circumstances are such that actual deliberation [by the officer
[79 F.Supp.3d 1181]
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