Scott v. University of Chicago Medical Center

Three separate sets of parents filed lawsuits claiming that the defendant hospital violated their families’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when the hospitals contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services after the parents declined preventative medical care for their newborn babies in private hospitals. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that private entities are susceptible to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 only when engaged in state action and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. (SYKES and BRENNAN, concurring)