Case Court State Topic(s) Summary
SCOTUS
CT
Access to courts
Court fees
Divorce
Due process
Court fees
Divorce
Due process
Filing fees cannot bar access to divorce courts by the poor. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibit a state from denying, solely because of inability to pay, access to its courts to individuals who sought judicial dissolution of their marriages.
SCOTUS
WA
Civil legal aid: Funding
IOLTA
Just compensation clause
IOLTA
Just compensation clause
IOLTA means interest on lawyers’ trust accounts. A state law requiring that lawyer client funds that could not otherwise generate net earnings for the client be deposited in an IOLTA account is not a “regulatory taking.” Because the client has suffered no pecuniary loss, there has been no violation of the Just Compensation Clause.
SCOTUS
MA
Due process
Public assistance
Sex discrimination
Public assistance
Sex discrimination
Held that the different treatment of men and women mandated by part of AFDC constituted invidious discrimination against female wage earners by affording them less protection for their surviving spouses than is provided to male employees, and therefore violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
SCOTUS
CA
Unemployment compensation
Unemployment insurance benefits must be paid promptly after the initial hearing, and not withheld pending an employer's appeal from the initial eligibility determination.
SCOTUS
CA
Due process
Equal protection
Military service
Public assistance
Supremacy clause
Equal protection
Military service
Public assistance
Supremacy clause
A needy family is eligible for AFDC when a parent is absent because of military service, and California's regulation to the contrary is declared invalid because it denies appellees their Fourteenth Amendment rights of due process and equal protection and violates the Supremacy Clause.
SCOTUS
NY
Due process
Equal protection
Federal employees
Unemployment compensation
Equal protection
Federal employees
Unemployment compensation
Discharged federal probationary employees denied unemployment compensation by a state agency should have been informed of their "right to additional information or reconsideration and correction" of the findings.
SCOTUS
CA
Civil Rights Act
Due process
Public assistance
Due process
Public assistance
An underlying purpose of the federal Civil Rights Act was to provide a remedy in the federal courts supplementary to any remedy any State might have, and relief under the Act may not be defeated because relief was not sought under state law which provided an administrative remedy.
SCOTUS
MD
Deference to political branches
Equal protection
Public assistance
Equal protection
Public assistance
A State has great latitude in dispensing its available funds for public welfare, and the State's rationally supportable regulation does not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
SCOTUS
DC
Due process
Public assistance
Public assistance
The government cannot exclude households from receiving food stamps based on whether they include a person who is unrelated to any other member of the household.
SCOTUS
DC
Due process
Public assistance
Public assistance
Food Stamp Act violates due process because a standard is not a rational measure of need and the administration of the Act allows no hearing to show that the standard is irrelevant to the need of the household.
SCOTUS
WA
Conservation
Equal protection
Native Americans
Equal protection
Native Americans
Washington State Game Department's regulation against net-fishing of steelhead trout discriminates against the Puyallup and must be changed to accommodate between between their net-fishing rights and the rights of sports fishermen.
535 U.S. 125 (2002)
Decided: Mar 26, 2002
SCOTUS
CA
Public housing
Supreme Court reversed Ninth Circuit ruling that HUD's interpretation permitting the eviction of so-called "innocent" tenants is inconsistent with congressional intent under Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, as amended.
SCOTUS
IL
Equal protection
Public assistance
Retroactive benefits
Sovereign immunity
Public assistance
Retroactive benefits
Sovereign immunity
Reversing the lower court, the Supreme Court held that the Eleventh Amendment barred the award of retroactive benefits by the state of Illinois under federal-state programs of Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled.
397 F.2d 687 (D.C. Cir. 1968) cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1016 (1969)
Decided: May 17, 1968
DC Circuit
DC
Landlord-tenant
Retaliatory eviction
Retaliatory eviction
The Court held that the landlord’s right to terminate a month-to-month tenancy “for any reason or no reason at all” did not include the “right” to terminate because the tenant complained of housing code violations.
2nd Circuit
NY
Due process
Eviction
Public housing
Eviction
Public housing
Required public housing authorities to provide hearings before evictions from public housing;
340 F.Supp. 351 (D.C. Md. 1972), affirmed 409 U.S. 904 (1972)
Decided: Jan 28, 1972
Dist. Ct. Maryland
MD
Public assistance
Rational basis
Retroactive benefits
Rational basis
Retroactive benefits
Neither state nor federal regulations may discriminate without rational basis against certain children whose fathers happen to be out of work because of their own misconduct which justified their discharge by their employer, or because of a labor dispute. Because the fathers are unemployed, the families are entitled to AFDC assistance.
SCOTUS
FL
PA
PA
Consumer
Due process
Due process
Certain Florida and Pennsylvania laws are invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment since they deprive private parties of property without due process of law by denying the right to a prior opportunity to be heard before chattels are taken from the possessor.
SCOTUS
NY
Due process
Public assistance
Public assistance
The Due Process Clause provides the right to a full hearing before welfare benefits are terminated.
SCOTUS
OH
Due process
Education
School discipline
Education
School discipline
High school students were denied due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment because they were suspended without hearing prior to suspension or within a reasonable time thereafter.
SCOTUS
AZ
PA
PA
Equal protection
Public assistance
Undocumented immigrants
Public assistance
Undocumented immigrants
Arizona and Pennsylvania violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when they denied welfare benefits to those who are not US citizens or to aliens who have not lived in the US for a certain number of years.
Dist. Ct. Maine
ME
Disability: Benefits
Equal protection
Public assistance
Equal protection
Public assistance
SCOTUS affirmed District Court: State may not exclude a category of applicants for disability assistance on the basis of the source of a diagnosed impairment, in particular persons suffering solely from psychoneurotic disorders, regardless of severity or permanence.
SCOTUS
NY
Equal protection
Public assistance
Public assistance
New York regulation permitting the State to recoup prior unscheduled payments for rent from subsequent grants under the AFDC program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
SCOTUS
NY
Abortion
Due process
Equal protection
Establishment clause
Due process
Equal protection
Establishment clause
The Hyde Amendment, by denying public Medicaid funding for certain medically necessary abortions, does not contravene the liberty or equal protection guarantees of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, or either of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment.
SCOTUS
KS
Debt collection
Equal protection
Right to counsel: Civil
Equal protection
Right to counsel: Civil
Court affirmed District Court's invalidation of state civil law to recoup legal defense fees for indigent criminal defendants. Law is impermissible burden upon the right to counsel established in Gideon v. Wainwright.
SCOTUS
CA
Equal protection
Public housing
Public housing
By requiring approval by local referendum for the building of public low-rent housing projects, the California state constitution does not single out advocates for low-rent public housing and therefore does not deny equal protection.
428 F.2d 1071 D.C. Cir., denied cert. 400 U.S. 925 (1970)
Decided: May 7, 1970
DC Circuit
DC
Landlord-tenant
Warranty of habitability
Warranty of habitability
The court determined that if the premises become uninhabitable, the tenant is freed from their obligation to pay rent. SCOTUS affirmed.
SCOTUS
TX
Equal protection
Public assistance
Public assistance
Although not overruling earlier cases, Jefferson seems to eliminate the possibility that reducing the size of the welfare rolls and denying otherwise eligible persons assistance is a relevant factor in determining the validity of a procedure.
SCOTUS
IL
Disability: Benefits
Due process
Equal protection
Illegitimate children
Due process
Equal protection
Illegitimate children
The Social Security Act, by deeming certain illegitimate children ineligible for disability insurance benefits, contravenes the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the equal protection of the laws guaranteed thereby.
SCOTUS
AL
Enforcement
Equal protection
Public assistance
Equal protection
Public assistance
AFDC cannot be withheld because of the presence of a "substitute father" who visited a family on weekends. The issue before the US Supreme Court involved how the states could determine how to implement a federal program. The court used the term "co-operative federalism."
SCOTUS
NC
Due process
Parental rights
Parental rights
The Constitution does not require the appointment of counsel for indigent parents in every parental status termination proceeding. The decision whether due process calls for the appointment of counsel is to be answered in the first instance by the trial court, subject to appellate review.
SCOTUS
Education
English as second language (ESL)
Equal protection
English as second language (ESL)
Equal protection
The failure San Francisco schools to provide English language instruction to students of Chinese ancestry who do not speak English, or to provide them with other adequate instructional procedures, violates the Equal Protection Clause by denying them a meaningful opportunity to participate in public education.
SCOTUS
NY
Freedom of speech
LSC: General
LSC: Restrictions
LSC: General
LSC: Restrictions
Funding restrictions imposed by Congress prohibiting LSC attorneys from representing clients attempting to amend (or challenge) existing welfare law violated First Amendment guarantees of free speech because LSC's regulations were viewpoint-based restrictions of private speech.
SCOTUS
CA
Public assistance
AFDC aid can be granted under the Social Security Act only if "a parent" of the needy child is continually absent from the home, the term "parent" including only a person with a legal duty of support.
SCOTUS
OR
Due process
Equal protection
Landlord-tenant
Equal protection
Landlord-tenant
One part of the Oregon Forcible Entry and Wrongful Detainer (FED) Statute relating to landlord-tenant relations violates the Equal Protection Clause. Two other parts do not violate the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses.
SCOTUS
CT
Debt collection
Due process
Equal protection
Property rights
Due process
Equal protection
Property rights
State law that allows creditor summary pre-judicial garnishment of debtor's savings account violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
SCOTUS
NC
Disability: Benefits
Due process
Due process
Individuals have a statutorily granted property right in Social Security benefits, and the termination of such benefits implicates due process but does not require a pre-termination hearing.
SCOTUS
AZ
Native Americans
Plenary power of states
State taxes
Plenary power of states
State taxes
State of Arizona has no jurisdiction to impose a tax on the income of Navajo Indians residing on the Navajo Reservation and whose income is wholly derived from reservation sources.
444 F.2d 1353 (7th Cir. 1971), vacated, 406 U.S. 914 (1972)
Decided: Apr 30, 1971
SCOTUS
IL
Equal protection
Exhaustion of state administrative remedies
Public assistance
Exhaustion of state administrative remedies
Public assistance
Expanded prior Supreme Court holding that exhaustion of administrative remedies was not required to bring a case in federal court challenging state welfare laws.
327 F.Supp. 759 (D. Or 1971), aff'd, 404 U.S. 803, rehearing denied, 404 U.S. 961
Decided: May 3, 1971
Dist. Ct. Oregon
OR
Child support
Public assistance
Public assistance
A state may not impose a condition of eligibility for AFDC benefits unless that condition is authorized by the Social Security Act. SCOTUS affirmed.
SCOTUS
FL
Consumer
Truth in Lending Act
Truth in Lending Act
The "Four Installment Rule" of Regulation Z is a valid exercise of the Federal Reserve Board's rulemaking authority under the Truth in Lending Act. In imposing a disclosure requirement on all members of a defined class to discourage evasion by a substantial portion of that class, the challenged regulation does not create a conclusive presumption violative of the Fifth Amendment.
SCOTUS
NJ
Equal protection
Public assistance
Public assistance
Limiting public benefits to households in which the parents are ceremonially married and have at least one minor child of both, the natural child of one and adopted by the other, or a child adopted by both, denies equal protection to illegitimate children.
413 U.S. 405 (1973)
Decided: Jun 21, 1973
SCOTUS
NY
Federal pre-emption
Public assistance
Work rules
Public assistance
Work rules
For recipients of federal AFDC benefits, federal work rules do not generally pre-empt state work rules. Unusually, post-enactment congressional legislative debates in reaction to the lower court decision influenced the Supreme Court. (Opinion was for two bundled cases.)
SCOTUS
FL
Fourteenth Amendment
Indefinite custodial confinement
Mental health
Indefinite custodial confinement
Mental health
A State cannot constitutionally confine a non-dangerous individual who is capable of surviving safely in freedom by himself or with the help of willing and responsible family members or friends.
SCOTUS
GA
Disability: Discrimination
Enforcement
Institutionalization
Enforcement
Institutionalization
People with disabilities have the right to receive support in the community rather than in institutions when three conditions were met: (1) the treating medical professionals determine that a community setting was appropriate; (2) the person with a disability does not object to living in the community; and (3) the provision of services in the community is a reasonable accommodation.
262 Ore. 375, 498 P.2d 757, affirmed, 410 U.S. 656 (1973)
Decided: Mar 5, 1973
SCOTUS
OR
Access to courts
Court fees
Due process
Equal protection
Court fees
Due process
Equal protection
That indigents seeking to appeal in state court an adverse welfare decision must pay a filing fee does not violate the due process or equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
SCOTUS
GA
Due process
Mental health
Mental institutions
Minors
Mental health
Mental institutions
Minors
A parent or a guardian can commit a minor to a mental institution if a staff physician certifies that the minor should be committd, even if the minor strenuously opposes their decision. The Court specifically rejected claims that commitment of a minor by a parent or guardian without an adversary hearing is a deprivation of the minor's liberty without due process of law.
SCOTUS
AZ
Bankruptcy
Supremacy clause
Supremacy clause
A state law suspending a driver's license was unconstitutional due to its conflict with the federal Bankruptcy Act under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
SCOTUS
VT
Enforcement
Legislative construction
Public assistance
Unemployment compensation
Legislative construction
Public assistance
Unemployment compensation
A state may not deny ANFC assistance because the unemployed fathers are merely eligible for unemployment compensation. A state regulation cannot be applied so as to conflict with the construction of the federal statute.
SCOTUS
NJ
Disability: Benefits
Supremacy clause
Supremacy clause
Under the Supremacy Clause, a State may not recover benefits retroactively paid to a beneficiary.
SCOTUS
TX
Equal protection
School finance
Undocumented immigrants
School finance
Undocumented immigrants
Under the Equal Protection Clause, the Court struck down both a state statute denying funding for education to undocumented immigrant children and a municipal school district's attempt to charge an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each student to compensate for lost state funding. (Two cases bundled together.)
318 F. Supp. 289 (N.D. Ill. 1970), affirmed, 403 U.S. 901 (1971)
Decided: Sep 23, 1970
Dist. Ct. N.D. Illinois
IL
Enforcement
Equal protection
Public assistance
Equal protection
Public assistance
AFDC payments must be made within 30 days of application, absent fault of applicant, in accordance with federal HEW regulations. Plaintiffs' complaint may continue as class action.
SCOTUS
NY
Exhaustion of administrative remedies
Primary jurisdiction
Public assistance
Primary jurisdiction
Public assistance
Neither the doctrine of primary jurisdiction nor that of exhaustion of administrative remedies precludes federal court jurisdiction of an action brought by welfare recipients seeking to determine whether a state law was inconsistent with the requirements of the federal Social Security Act.
SCOTUS
TX
Education
Equal protection
Fundamental rights
School finance
Equal protection
Fundamental rights
School finance
A State public school taxing system that results in interdistrict spending disparities among local school districts is consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause as long as the system satisfies the rational basis standard of review and is, thus, rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest.
SCOTUS
CT
DC
PA
DC
PA
Due process
Equal protection
Public assistance
Residency duration requirements
Right to travel
Equal protection
Public assistance
Residency duration requirements
Right to travel
Absent a compelling state interest, state laws that impose residency requirements to obtain welfare assistance violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment. Such laws also violate the constitutional right to travel by inhibiting migration by needy persons into the state.
SCOTUS
CO
Public assistance
In reducing AFDC benefits to the working poor, a State may not set a maximum on work-related expenses deducted from income because such limit discourages them from working, in violation of the Social Security Act.
SCOTUS
Due process
Equal protection
Family law
Parental rights
Unwed fathers' rights
Equal protection
Family law
Parental rights
Unwed fathers' rights
Under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, fathers of children born out of wedlock have the same fundamental right to their children as do married or divorced fathers.
SCOTUS
PA
Disability: Benefits
Disability: Child
Enforcement
Disability: Child
Enforcement
The regulations governing eligiblity for child disability issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services are inconsistent with the statutory standard of comparable severity. Children are not given the same opportunity as adults to show their functional impairment in the late states of the determination process.
SCOTUS
IL
Dependent children
Equal protection
Public assistance
Supremacy clause
Equal protection
Public assistance
Supremacy clause
Under the Supremacy Clause, the states do not have the option of denying AFDC benefits to needy dependent children between the ages of 18 and 21 who attend a college or university while granting these benefits to those who attended high school or a vocational training school.
SCOTUS
SC
Child support
Right to counsel: Civil
Wilful contempt
Right to counsel: Civil
Wilful contempt
Court held that a parent jailed for civil contempt due to failure to pay child support is not categorically entitled to counsel under certain circumstances. The court also determined that there is not a presumption in favor of counsel when physical liberty is at stake. However, the Court did hold that the state must provide four safeguards to ensure due process.
SCOTUS
NY
Access to courts
Bankruptcy
Court fees
Due process
Equal protection
Bankruptcy
Court fees
Due process
Equal protection
Bankruptcy protection is not a fundamental right, therefore the court denies neither due process nor equal protection to require even indigent debtors to pay a filing fee which bears a rational basis to sustaining the bankruptcy court system for its users.
SCOTUS
CT
Due process
Education
Residency duration requirements
Tuition residency requirements
Education
Residency duration requirements
Tuition residency requirements
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not permit a state to deny an individual the opportunity to present evidence that he is a bona fide resident entitled to in-state rates, on the basis of a permanent and irrebuttable presumption of nonresidence, when that presumption is not necessarily or universally true in fact, and when the State has reasonable alternative means of making the crucial determination.
6th Circuit
MI
Enforcement
Medicaid
Sovereign immunity
Medicaid
Sovereign immunity
(1) Medicaid is not a contract between the states that participate and the federal government. (2) Sovereign immunity does not bar an action against a state official who did not comply with Medicaid regulations. (3) A Plaintiff does have a private right of action under to enforce rights provided under Medicaid.
SCOTUS
CA
Due process
Public assistance
Public assistance
Procedural due process requires a pre-termination evidentiary hearing before welfare payments may be discontinued or suspended.
DC Circuit
DC
Consumer
Debt collection
Unconscionable contract
Debt collection
Unconscionable contract
Where the element of unconscionability is present at the time a contract is made, the contract should not be enforced. The case is remanded to the lower court to determine whether the contract was unconscionable.
SCOTUS
NY
Fourteenth Amendment
Fourth Amendment
Home visitation
Public assistance
Fourth Amendment
Home visitation
Public assistance
The home visit required by a state in connection with the AFDC program is a reasonable administrative tool and does not violate any right guaranteed by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
SCOTUS
WI
Family law
Right to marry
Right to marry
Because the right to marry is of fundamental importance, it is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendmen for a state law to bar marriage by noncustodial parents unless a court order finds that the child support is not in arrears and that the child(ren) will not become dependent on the State.