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Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970)
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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.
Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970)
Lewis v. Martin No. 829 Argued March 3, 1970 Decided April 20, 1970 397 U.S. 552
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Syllabus
Appellants, recipients of Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) assistance, brought this suit challenging the validity of a California law and regulations that conclusively presume that the income of a nonadoptive stepfather or a man assuming the role of a spouse (MARS) is available to the children in computing the AFDC assistance to which they are entitled. Appellants contend that the state provisions conflict with the Social Security Act and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) regulations thereunder providing that income from a nonadoptive stepfather without legal obligation of support or a MARS may not be treated as available to the children absent proof of actual contributions. A three-judge District Court, holding the HEW regulations invalid, dismissed the complaint.
Held:
1. AFDC aid can be granted under the Social Security Act only if "a parent" of the needy child is continually absent from the home, the term "parent" including only a person with a legal duty of support. King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 313, 327. Pp. 557-558.
2. The HEW regulation validly implements the Act, since HEW could reasonably conclude that only a person as near as a real or adoptive father would be has the consensual relation to the family that makes it reliably certain that his income is actually available for support of the children in the household. Pp. 558-560.
3. The State, which is foreclosed from arguing that the "assumption of income" provisions comport with the Act as applied to MARS, may seek to show on remand only that those provisions may be retained under the Act as applied to nonadoptive stepfathers if it can demonstrate that their legal obligation under state law is consistent with that under federal law. P. 560.
312 F.Supp. 197, reversed and remanded.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970) in 397 U.S. 552 397 U.S. 553. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UTA13SSHRIPU1YH.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970), in 397 U.S. 552, page 397 U.S. 553. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UTA13SSHRIPU1YH.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 (1970). cited in 1970, 397 U.S. 552, pp.397 U.S. 553. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UTA13SSHRIPU1YH.
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