Youngberg v. Romeo

The question presented is whether respondent, involuntarily committed to a state institution for the mentally retarded, has substantive rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to (i) safe conditions of confinement; (ii) freedom from bodily restraints; and (iii) training or "habilitation." Respondent sued under 42 U. S. C. ? 1983 three administrators of the institution, claiming damages for the alleged breach of his constitutional rights.