holding that the question of whether "there is a sufficiently close nexus between the State and the challenged action of [a private party] ... depends on whether the State has exercised coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State"
How later courts described this case
- holding that the question of whether "there is a sufficiently close nexus between the State and the challenged action of [a private party] ... depends on whether the State has exercised coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State"
- holding that private insurer's decision to seek review by private utilization review organization of reasonableness and necessity of medical treatment, though authorized by Pennsylvania workers' compensation statute, did not involve state action to the extent necessary to trigger due process guarantees under Fourteenth Amendment
- stating that "[t]he first inquiry in every due process challenge is whether the plaintiff has been deprived of a protected interest in `property' or `liberty.' * * * Only after finding the deprivation of a protected interest do we look to see if the State's procedures comport with due process"
- holding that to state a claim for relief based on § 1983, “[plaintiffs] must establish that they were deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, and that the alleged deprivation was committed under color of state law.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
Distinguished
Distinguished by Giaimo v. City of New Haven, 257 Conn. 481 (2001)
Co. v. Sullivan, supra, 526 U.S. 40, is distinguishable from this case on a number of grounds.
The opinion
Justice Ginsburg,
concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I join Part III of the Court’s opinion on the understanding that the Court rejects specifically, and only, respondents’ de *62 mands for constant payment of each medical bill, within 30 days of receipt, pending determination of the necessity or reasonableness of the medical treatment. See ante, at 61, n. 13. I do not doubt, however, that due process requires fair procedures for the adjudication of respondents’ claims for workers’ compensation benefits, including medical care. See Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U. S. 422, 428-431 (1982); Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U. S. 478, 485 (1988); Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 21-22 *
Part III disposes of the instant controversy with respect to all insurers, the State Workmen’s Insurance Fund as well as the private insurers. I therefore do not join the Court’s extended endeavor, in Part II, to clean up and rein in our “state action” precedent. “It is a fundamental rule of judicial restraint... that this Court will not reach constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding them.” Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P C., 467 U. S. 138, 157 (1984); see also Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U. S. 288, 347 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring). While this rule is ordinarily invoked to avoid deciding a constitutional question in lieu of a less tall ground for decision, its counsel of restraint is soundly applied to the instant situation: When a case presents two constitutional questions, one of which disposes of the entire case and the other of which does not, resolution of the case-dispositive question should suffice.
1 agree with Justice Stevens that, although Pennsylvania's original procedure was deficient, the dispute resolution process now in place meets the constitutional requirement. See post, at 64 (opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part).