What Is The Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause?

644 Words3 Pages
Case Facts According to Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent College of Law, John Kelly, acting on behalf of New York residents receiving financial aid either under the Families with Dependent Children program or under New York State's home relief program, challenged the constitutionality of procedures for notice and termination of assistance. Originally, New York offered no official notice or opportunity for hearings to people whose aid was scheduled for termination. However, afterwards, the State of New York implemented a hearing procedure after Kelly's court case. Question for the Supreme Court Does a state's termination of public aid, without affording the beneficiary a hearing prior to termination, violate notions of procedural due process as set out in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause? The Decision The Supreme Court ruled that the Due Process Clause gives people receiving aid the chance to present evidence and arguments to an impartial decision maker before their benefits are terminated. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment therefore requires that a pre-termination hearing must be held, but it does not have to be a full judicial trial. The Supreme Court concluded that…show more content…
“The Court today holds that it would violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to stop paying those people weekly or monthly allowances unless the government first affords them a full 'evidentiary hearing' even though welfare officials are persuaded that the recipients are not rightfully entitled to receive a penny under the law.… I do not believe there is any provision in our Constitution that should thus paralyze the government's efforts to protect itself against making payments to people who are not entitled to
Show More
Related

  • Double Jeopardy: The Fifth Amendment

    2706 Words  | 11 Pages

    If you ask someone what they think about the Fifth Amendment, most people will likely point out that it provides citizens a right against self-incrimination. However, besides the well-known “plead the Fifth” clause, the Fifth Amendment provides a number of other important privileges and protections including the right to a grand jury for capital offences, the right to due process, the right to fair compensation when the government takes your property and a prohibition against being prosecuted or

    Read More

More about What Is The Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause?

Open Document