Boddie v. Connecticut

Summary

The district court entered judgment following the Supreme Court’s decision in Boddie v. Connecticut. It held that applying Connecticut General Statutes § 52-259 to indigent persons unable to pay divorce fees and costs violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and ordered the defendants to permit such persons to pursue divorce proceedings without payment of those fees and costs.

Holdings

1. As applied to named plaintiffs and other indigent persons barred from obtaining a divorce because they cannot pay the required fees and costs, Connecticut General Statutes § 52-259 violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Defendants must allow indigent persons unable to pay the fees and costs incident to a divorce to prosecute their divorce proceedings without payment of those fees and costs.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Connecticut may require indigent persons who cannot pay fees and costs to pay those amounts as a condition of prosecuting divorce proceedings.
2. What relief should be entered to conform the district court judgment to the Supreme Court's decision holding the fee requirement unconstitutional.

Disposition

other