GAINES' RIGHTS AGAINST CARMI WELFARE DEPT.

GAINES' RIGHTS AGAINST THE CARMI WELFARE DEPARTMENT

This legal memorandum details and analyzes the steps which Jimmy Gaines ("Gaines") may take against the Carmi, Illinois welfare department in connection with the threatened termination of his benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and to prepare for the forthcoming hearing. It also discusses the public policy issues involved.

Under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution which is applicable to the states and localities under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, no State "shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law."

Was Gaines given adequate notice of the pending hearing? The United States Supreme Court has ruled that in cases involving the threatened termination of the predecessor dependency benefit assistance program (Aid to Families with Dependent Children or AFDC), the beneficiary has the right to present his case at a duly noticed hearing and to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970). In the present case, Baines has been told by Martha Endicott ("Endicott"), the local welfare office manager, that he can appear without counsel at a hearing the following morning. This would appear to fall short of reasonable notice. In Goldberg, the Court upheld the constitutionality of a statutory seven day notice provision, but it indicated that "there

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entives and compulsions to work, the procedural rights of welfare and now TANF beneficiaries have correspondingly been restricted. Nice & Trubek say "the actions and decisions of legislators and administrators who govern the lives of poor people receive great deference." Nevertheless, the purpose of constitutional due process protections is to place limits on the arbitrary exercise of the coercive powers of the state. Because of his or her poverty and/or limited knowledge, the welfare recipient suffers from a severe disadvantage in his dealings with officials. Fundamental fairness requires that Gaines enjoy at least the minimal procedural protections outlined above. Would Gaines Be Denied Equal Protection Under the Law by the Local Welfare Department's Determinations? The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment also applies to state and local action. However, unless a welfare recipient is found to be included in a special suspect class or the welfare determinations indirectly and substantially restrict some other fundamental constitutional right in which case alleged equal protection violations are judged by a heightened scrutiny standard, equal protection claims are usually reviewed under the rational basis standar

Category: Government - G