Can You Sue the County for Not Enforcing the Law

My question involves injury or loss that occurred in the state of: California.
I am not sure if this is the right forum for this inquiry. I apologize if it is not.

Between 1983 and 1987, my family and I lived on our property in a remote area where there was no electricity and no septic tank. The first year we lived in tents. The second year we built a house without a permit, that was not completed and had no electricity (except for a generator we later purchased), and was not insulated. These were miserable conditions. Sometimes in Summer the house would get over 100 degrees. Today, the county in which this occurred does not allow people to live on their property unless they have a septic tank, a well (we did not have a well on our property until the second or third year), and the house must have a permit. I am wondering if we have a case against the county for not enforcing these particular codes at that time, and for not even investigating our status of living. However I understand there might be a statute of limitation. Also, as a side note, while living out there, my sisters were sexually molested (a High School teacher suspected this but never reported it) by our step-father, and I was verbally abused by this man repeatedly. We were also neglected, and there were times that the three of us kids (minors), were left out there a week at a time. Our parents would come back on the weekends. But the county never investigated or enforced any codes or anything. Do we have a claim against them? Thank you.

By the way, recently via email, a deputy sheriff officer of that county admired to me that at that time (between 1983 and 1987), the county did not always enforce the law on these particular matters. Isn't that negligence?

No you can't sue them because they didn't prosecute you for breaking the law.
You don't appear to have a claim against bad parenting nor any option for criminal complaint at this point.

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Quoting flyingron

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No you can't sue them because they didn't prosecute you for breaking the law.
You don't appear to have a claim against bad parenting nor any option for criminal complaint at this point.

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There is no case against them for failing to ensure the safety of minors by enforcing their own county regulations? Are you sure about this? Are you a lawyer? I seek legal opinion. Thank you.

If you seek a legal opinion from an attorney, you're free to pay for a consultation with an attorney.

You are also welcomed to read the TOS of this site :)

Even if you could sue the county (Google the 11th Amendment) and the chances of that are slim, the statute of limitations has run out long ago.

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Quoting freedomroad7777

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By the way, recently via email, a deputy sheriff officer of that county admired to me that at that time (between 1983 and 1987), the county did not always enforce the law on these particular matters. Isn't that negligence?

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The statute of limitations has long since passed for any civil action even if you could somehow argue that the county had a legal obligation to investigate and enforce the county building codes in every inch of the county. Additionally, I am unfamiliar with any statute or case law in CA that mandates the county enforce every code everywhere.

If your parents permitted you to live in squalid conditions, then they should be the focus of any litigation, not the county.

Besides, even today, squalor does not necessarily mean children will be removed and placed into foster care. It is not a crime to be poor and destitute. Unless the parent is unable to provide for the child, they will keep the child - tent or not.

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Quoting freedomroad7777

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There is no case against them for failing to ensure the safety of minors by enforcing their own county regulations?

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Nope. The government is not mandated to protect everyone from everything. Your parent could be responsible for that, however. Although the civil and criminal SOL for that would have expired long ago as well.

Even though the statute of limitation has expired, can we appeal to ignorance? We were ignorant of the laws, codes and regulations at the time, being children. It was not until I was free from my step-father and learned how to use my brain that I realized that something is wrong with that picture --the way we lived out there. Parents are now dead. Things were not that bad in terms of neglect. We ate good. Thank you for your help everyone.

Ok, let's play the game.


what are your damages? Granted, the living conditions were not so great but what are your actual damages?

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Quoting freedomroad7777

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Even though the statute of limitation has expired, can we appeal to ignorance?

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No. If that were the case, there would be little need for a SOL as everyone would claim they did not know.

Besides, even if within the SOL the county cannot be held liable for never discovering and enforcing the code violations resulting in your uncomfortable youth.