Zablocki v. Redhail
| Zablocki v. Redhail | |
|---|---|
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| Argued October 4, 1977 Decided January 18, 1978 |
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| Full case name | Thomas E. Zablocki, Milwaukee County Clerk v. Roger G. Redhail |
| Citations | 434 U.S. 374 (more)
98 S. Ct. 673; 54 L. Ed. 2d 618; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 57; 24 Fed. R. Serv. 2d (Callaghan) 1313
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| Argument | Oral argument |
| Prior history | Judgment in favor of plaintiffs, 418 F. Supp. 1061 (E.D. Wis. 1976) (three-judge court); probable jurisdiction noted, 429 U.S. 1089 (1977) |
| Holding | |
| Wisconsin's statute requiring a noncustodial parent to obtain a court order before receiving a marriage license, which may be issued only when the noncustodial parent is up to date on child support and such child(ren) is(are) not likely to become public charges, is unconstitutional because the statute violates the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. The case also reaffirms the status of marriage as a fundamental right. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Marshall, joined by Burger, Brennan, White, Blackmun |
| Concurrence | Burger |
| Concurrence | Stewart |
| Concurrence | Powell |
| Concurrence | Stevens |
| Dissent | Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV | |
Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that Wisconsin Statutes §§ 245.10 (1), (4), (5) (1973) violated the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. Section 245.10 required noncustodial parents who were Wisconsin residents attempting to marry inside or outside of Wisconsin to seek a court order prior to receiving a marriage license. In order to receive such a court order, the noncustodial parent could not be in arrears on his or her child support, and the court had to believe that the child(ren) would not become dependent on the State.
In 1972, Roger Redhail, then in high school, was sued in a paternity action in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He admitted he was the father, and the court ordered him to pay child support in the amount of $109 per month until the child reached eighteen years of age, plus court costs. Since Redhail was in high school at the time, he had no way to pay the court costs or child support. It went in arrears, reaching a total of $3,732 by the end of 1974. Meanwhile, Redhail's noncustodial child was a public charge, and received $109 per month as support from the State of Wisconsin.
In 1974, Redhail attempted to obtain a marriage license in Milwaukee County. Due to the aforementioned § 245.10(1), one of the agents of the county clerk denied his application because he did not have a court order allowing him to marry. Redhail proceeded to file a class action suit against Thomas Zablocki, who was the county clerk of Milwaukee County (and whose official capacity was to issue such licenses) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and since the action sought a permanent injunction against the statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2281 (since repealed) then required a three-judge District Court.
Judge John Reynolds wrote for the three-judge court. After disposing with issues regarding interactions with State court actions and class action procedure, he reached the substantive matter under which Redhail filed suit. Finding that the Wisconsin statute created two separate classes of individuals, Reynolds then proceeded to observe that under a number of Supreme Court decisions, marriage was held to be a fundamental right. Accordingly, the judge applied strict scrutiny to determine whether the Wisconsin statute could survive constitutional review.
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