Parratt v. Taylor

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Parratt v. Taylor
ArgueDate=March 2
ArgueYear=1981
DecideDate=May 18
DecideYear=1981
FullName=Parratt, et al. v. Taylor
USVol=451
USPage=527
Citation=101 S. Ct. 1908; 68 L. Ed. 2d 420; 1981 U.S. LEXIS 99; 49 U.S.L.W. 4509
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=
SCOTUS=1975-1981
Majority=Rehnquist
JoinMajority=Burger, Brennan, Stewart, White, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence=Stewart
Concurrence2=White
Concurrence3=Blackmun
Concurrence4=Powell
Concurrence/Dissent=Marshall
LawsApplied=

"Parratt v. Taylor", ussc|451|527|1981 was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court, in which the court considered the applicability of Due Process to a claim brought under Section 1983.

The respondent was an inmate at the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex who had order hobby materials by mail. When the hobby materials were lost, he brought suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 to recover their value, $23.50.

The court held that when procedural due process guarantees only a post-deprivation hearing, provision of a right to sue in state court was provision of that hearing.

The court found that the deprivation did not occur as the result of some established state procedure, but as the result of the unauthorized failure of state agents to follow established state procedure, and because Nebraska had a tort claims procedure that provided a remedy to persons who had suffered a tortious loss at the hands of the State, but which respondent did not use, such procedure could have fully compensated respondent for his property loss and were sufficient to satisfy the requirements of due process.

The court found that although the respondent was deprived of property under color of state law, he had not sufficiently alleged a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

See also

List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 451