Section 1437d

Citation: Section 1437d
Parent Document: Rucker v. Davis, 237 F.3d 1113 (2001)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2001-01-24
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7086389/rucker-v-davis/ ↗

Full Text

1,297 chars

Similarly, in Lipscomb v. Simmons, 962 F.2d 1374 (9th Cir.1992) (en banc), this court upheld a state’s foster care funding scheme against a constitutional challenge. The court noted that it must defer to the legislatively determined allocation of scarce child care subsidies. “Because Oregon has no affirmative obligation to fund plaintiffs’ exercise of a right to maintain family relationships free from governmental interference, we decline to apply heightened scrutiny.” Lipscomb, 962 F.2d at 1379. Because the allocation of welfare payments is a legislative function, a court may not strike down such schemes on the basis of “seemingly arbitrary consequences in some individual cases.” Id. at 1382 (quoting Califano v. Jobst, 434 U.S. 47, 53, 98 S.Ct. 95, 54 L.Ed.2d 228 (1977)). Rather, when confronted with a facial challenge to a statutory determination of eligibility, the Lipscomb court limited its inquiry to “only whether there is a rational basis for the program viewed as a whole.” Id. Consequently, despite the potential for “unfavorable results in the cases of individual plaintiff[s],” the statutory scheme was constitutional because it was rationally related to the government’s interest in “maximizing the amount of money available” for the program as a whole. Id. at 1380, 1381.

Other Sections in This Document (190)

Full Text