436
Blackmun, J., dissenting
government from engaging in conduct that 'shocks the conscience,' Rochin v. California, 342 U. S. 165, 172 (1952), or interferes with rights 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,' Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U. S. 319, 325-326 (1937). When government action depriving a person of life, liberty, or property survives substantive due process scrutiny, it must still be implemented in a fair manner. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 335 (1976). This requirement has traditionally been referred to as 'procedural' due process." United States v. Salerno, 481 U. S. 739, 746 (1987).
Petitioner cites not Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319 (1976), or Medina v. California, 505 U. S. 437 (1992), in support of his due process claim, but Rochin. Brief for Petitioner 32-33.
Just last Term, we had occasion to explain the role of substantive due process in our constitutional scheme. Quoting the second Justice Harlan, we said:
" '[T]he full scope of the liberty guaranteed by the Due Process Clause cannot be found in or limited by the precise terms of the specific guarantees elsewhere provided in the Constitution. This "liberty" is not a series of isolated points . . . . It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and purposeless restraints . . . .' " Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833, 848 (1992), quoting Poe v. Ullman, 367 U. S. 497, 543 (1961) (opinion dissenting from dismissal on jurisdictional grounds).
Petitioner's claim falls within our due process precedents. In Rochin, deputy sheriffs investigating narcotics sales broke into Rochin's room and observed him put two capsules in his mouth. The deputies attempted to remove the capsules from his mouth and, having failed, took Rochin to a hospital and had his stomach pumped. The capsules were
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