Brief Fact Summary. Appellants, Boddie et al., are indigents who are challenging the court costs of getting a divorce in Connecticut. They assert that the costs violate the rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Where state courts are the sole means for obtaining a divorce, the states can not impose a court fee that effectively prevents people without the means to pay the fee from getting a divorce when there is ample evidence that the divorce is warranted.
The Court held: Given the basic position of the marriage relationship in this society's hierarchy of values and the concomitant state monopolization of the means for legally dissolving this relationship, due process does prohibit a State from denying, solely because of inability to pay, access to its courts to individuals who seek judicial dissolution of their marriages.
View Full Point of LawIssue. The issue is whether a state can require everyone in their state, including people without the financial means, to pay the required fees to obtain a divorce.
Held. The United States Supreme Court held that since a state is the exclusive avenue to ending a divorce, they can not, under the Fourteenth Amendment, require people without the financial ability to pay to get a divorce. The court analogized the situation with that of a poor criminal defendant who can not avoid using the court system, and precedent has removed the financial barriers for those situations.
Dissent. The dissent argues that issues of marriage and divorce are the exclusive domain of the states. The dissent also distinguishes divorces from poor defendants in criminal cases because courts have always placed a higher importance for protection in criminal cases versus civil cases.
Concurrence. The concurring judges also argue that the state fee requirements violate the Equal Protection Clause.
Discussion. The court narrows it holding to only protect parties seeking divorce who lack the financial means to file, and they limit it to divorce filings only.