This Article seeks to advance due process protections for people included in state child abuse and neglect registries. Between states, there are differences in the types of cases included in the state registry and the process required to be placed on or removed from the registry. To obtain judicial due process review, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a protected liberty or property interest is at stake. When federal courts have evaluated the individual liberty interest(s) implicated by placement on state child abuse and neglect registries, they have so far only found such an interest when the plaintiff’s employment opportunities were clearly affected. We identify a more principled method by which courts should evaluate challenges to state child abuse and neglect registries. Our proposed method would root the analysis in the core constitutional right of family integrity. We then go on to identify ways in which states could structure their child abuse and neglect registries to better comport with due process requirements.
