Jackson, Individually, and as Administrator of the Estate of Jackson, Et Al. v. City of Joliet Et Al.

How later courts describe this case

• holding that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment seeks “to protect Americans from oppression by state government, not to secure them basic governmental services”
• Discriminating against a class of persons in a “vicious and irrational fashion” gives rise to an equal protection claim.
• no constitutional duty on the part of state officers to rescue the plaintiff in a non-negligent manner
• police conduct was held not the cause of the plaintiffs' injuries when officer did not know that there were occupants in a burning car and did not render aid
• dictum that intentional deprivation of life by a state official would deprive plaintiffs’ decedents of their lives without due process of law
• "the concept of liberty in the Fourth Amendment does not include a right to basic services, whether competently provided or otherwise.”
• “Purposeful or invidious discrimination” against a class violates the Equal Protection Clause.
• There was no constitutional liability for a police officer’s failure to rescue the occupants of a burning car; the officer did not create the hazard and did not know that the car was occupied