Boddie v. Connecticut
- Decided
- March 2, 1971
- Docket
- 27
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,052 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- concluding that state requirement that indigent individuals pay court fees to obtain divorce unconstitutionally burdened the fundamental right to marry — Conaway v. Deane (2007)
- holding that when ”[n]o suspect classification, such as race, nationality, or alienage is present .... [t]he applicable standard is that of rational justification.” — Burton H. Wolfe v. Ronald M. George, Chief Justice Deborah Silva (2007)
- holding that due process does not require a hearing where defendant defaults, but merely notice and opportunity to be heard — Weininger v. Castro (2006)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Me. Justice Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellants, welfare recipients residing in the State of Connecticut, brought this action in the Federal District Court for the District of Connecticut on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, challenging, as applied to them, certain state procedures for the commencement of litigation, including requirements for payment of court fees and costs for service of process, that restrict their access to the courts in their effort to bring an action for divorce.
It appears from the briefs and oral argument that the average cost to a litigant for bringing an action for divorce is $60. Section 52-259 of the Connecticut General Statutes provides: “There shall be paid to the clerks of the supreme court or the superior court, for entering each civil cause, forty-five dollars An additional $15 is usually required for the service of process by the sheriff, although as much as $40 or $50 may be necessary where notice must be accomplished by publication.[1]
Statutes cited
- 28 U.S.C. § 2281
Cite this
Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371 (1971)Read the full opinion
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