Kenneth Jerome Dawson v. Board of County Commissioners of Jefferson County, Colorado, et al.

The due process clause of the fourteenth amendment has a substantive component that protects individual liberty against arbitrary governmental action regardless of the fairness of the procedure involved. When a legislative provision is alleged to violate substantive due process, the level of judicial scrutiny depends upon the nature of the asserted liberty interest. Infringement of a fundamental right is judged under the “strict scrutiny” standard; infringement of a non-fundamental right is gauged under the “reasonably related” standard. The questions presented here are: When a criminal defendant has posted bond and is entitled to be released from jail subject only to administrative processing, does the defendant’s right to be released implicate a fundamental right of liberty; and has Petitioner stated a claim that the legislatively mandated three-day delay in his release unconstitutionally violated his right of liberty?