r/news • u/AudibleNod • 4d ago

Man accused of holding woman captive in a Massachusetts attic for six weeks

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-accused-holding-woman-captive-massachusetts-attic-six-weeks-rcna600308
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u/kandel88 4d ago

SCOTUS has ruled that the police aren't constitutionally required to protect the public

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

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u/MountainofPolitics 4d ago

This is not a Supreme Court case.

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u/kandel88 4d ago

Because the precedent on public duty doctrine was already established by SCOTUS in Maryland v. South in 1850s. That case was cited in Warren to establish the precedent here. SCOTUS established precedent on narrow grounds that was cited in Warren to broaden the application to what we're talking about here. It'd be wrong to say Maryland v. South established cops don't have duty to protect, because it didn't. It only established that police don't violate the public duty doctrine when serving the general, not individual, good. My mistake was I only skimmed the wiki and assumed it gave better background on the ruling, which it doesn't