|
|
Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971)
Labine v. Vincent No. 5257 Argued January 19, 1971 Decided March 29, 1971 401 U.S. 532
APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
Syllabus
Ezra Vincent died intestate, survived by only collateral relations and an illegitimate daughter, whose guardian (appellant) sued to have her declared Vincent’s sole heir. The trial court ruled that, under Louisiana law, the collateral relations took the decedent’s property to the exclusion of the daughter, who had been acknowledged by her father but not legitimated. The Louisiana Court of Appeal affirmed. The State Supreme Court denied certiorari. Appellant, relying on Levy v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 68, contends that Louisiana’s intestate succession laws that bar an illegitimate child from sharing equally with legitimate children in the father’s estate constitute an invidious discrimination violative of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Constitution.
Held: The Louisiana statutory intestate succession scheme is within the State’s power to establish rules for the protection and strengthening of family life and for the disposition of property, and, in view of various statutory alternatives, none of which was chosen by Vincent, did not (unlike the situation in Levy) constitute an insurmountable barrier to illegitimate children. Pp. 535-540.
255 La. 480, 231 So.2d 395, affirmed. See: 229 So.2d 449.
BLACK, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and HARLAN, STEWART, and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined. HARLAN, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 540. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which DOUGLAS, WHITE, and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 541.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971) in 401 U.S. 532 401 U.S. 533. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MWVQQQS3MW558IB.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971), in 401 U.S. 532, page 401 U.S. 533. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MWVQQQS3MW558IB.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971). cited in 1971, 401 U.S. 532, pp.401 U.S. 533. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MWVQQQS3MW558IB.
|