M.L.B. v. S.L.J.

No. 95-853 (U.S. Dec. 16, 1996). ; Clearinghouse Number: 52214

Description

Supreme Court Holds That State May Not Refuse to Pay for Transcript in Appeal of Termination of Indigent Mother's Parental Rights

Abstract

The Supreme Court has held that the state of Mississippi may not deny an indigent mother, because of her poverty, appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence on which the trial court based its decision to terminate mother's parental rights. After the trial court terminated petitioner mother's parental rights, she sought to appeal. However, state law conditioned her right to appeal on the prepayment of transcript fees estimated at $2,352. Mother's petition to proceed in forma pauperis was denied, and she appealed. Citing Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, and Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, the Court held that mother's parental termination appeal must be treated as the Court has treated petty offense appeals. Accordingly, the Court held the state may not withhold from mother the transcript that she needed to gain review of the order terminating her parental rights. The court noted that parental status termination is irretrievably destructive of the most fundamental family relationship and that the risk of error is considerable. Moreover, the court found that the state's interest in offsetting the costs to its court system of providing transcripts to indigent parents was unimpressive when measured against the stakes for parents subject to parental rights termination.

Additional Information

Docket Date
1996-12-16 00:00:00+00:00

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