Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires an evidentiary hearing before a recipient of certain government welfare benefits can be deprived of such benefits.
The individual losing benefits is entitled to an oral hearing before an impartial decision-maker as well as the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses and the right to a written statement setting out the evidence relied upon and the legal basis for the decision. There is no right to a formal trial. The case was decided 5–3. (There was a vacancy on the Court because of the resignation of Abe Fortas.) Goldberg v. Kelly, Shapiro v. Thompson, and King v. Smith were a part of the set of successful Supreme Court cases that dealt with Welfare, specifically referred to as a part of 'The Welfare Cases'.
Issues
left|200px|thumb|Federal welfare was administered by the new Department of Health Education and Welfare.
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution demand a hearing before the termination of statutorily defined welfare benefits?
- Does a pre-termination "informal hearing" in a welfare case satisfy the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment?
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a full "evidentiary hearing" prior to termination of welfare benefits?
- Does the welfare recipient have the right to counsel or an attorney at an evidentiary hearing?
- To what extent does the welfare administrative decision maker need to be impartial?
Holdings
Discussion
right|thumb|Federal involvement in welfare was designed to end the poverty of big city tenements, among other places.
The Goldberg decision set the parameters for procedural due process when dealing with the deprivation of a government benefit or entitlement. The Court held that a person has a property interest in certain government entitlements, which require notice and a hearing before a governmental entity (either state or federal) takes them away. Government-provided entitlements from the modern welfare state increased substantially in the United States during the 20th century. The Goldberg court decided that such entitlements (like welfare payments, government pensions, professional licenses), are a form of "new property" that require pre-deprivation procedural protection and so did away with the traditional distinction between rights and privileges.
left|thumb|Growth of federal involvement in funding and administrating welfare began under President [[John F. Kennedy.]]
The majority stated that welfare benefits are property and articulated the general proposition that welfare enjoys the same legal protection as other property. Justice Brennan noted that welfare benefits are "a matter of statutory entitlement for persons qualified to receive them" and added that "it may be realistic today to regard welfare entitlements as more like 'property' than a 'gratuity. Here Brennan cited Charles A. Reich's article "The New Property".
left|thumb|Welfare expanded under the [[Great Society programs of Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s.]]
The decision answered questions that had been unresolved in the previous Supreme Court cases of Rudder v. United States and Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham. The cases involved questions of denial of tenancy or eviction in governmental housing projects.
It has been noted that the precarious financial status of those in poverty may preclude an extensive litigation process despite the decision. The abstention doctrine presupposes the adequacy of state process to protect constitutional rights. Poor people may lack the funds to pursue a court hearing process. One solution has been the use of a preliminary injunction, which preserves the status quo while the litigation proceeds.
See also
- Administrative Procedure Act (United States)
- Due process
- Redistributive change
- Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
- Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319 (1976)