124
Opinion of the Court
rial circumstances." Griffin, 351 U. S., at 23 (Frankfurter, J., concurring in judgment).
But our cases solidly establish two exceptions to that general rule. The basic right to participate in political processes as voters and candidates cannot be limited to those who can pay for a license.14 Nor may access to judicial processes in cases criminal or "quasi criminal in nature," Mayer, 404 U. S., at 196 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted), turn on ability to pay. In accord with the substance and sense of our decisions in Lassiter and Santosky, see supra, at 117-120, we place decrees forever terminating parental rights in the category of cases in which the State may not "bolt the door to equal justice," Griffin, 351 U. S., at 24 (Frankfurter, J., concurring in judgment); see supra, at 110.
VI
In numerous cases, respondents point out, the Court has held that government "need not provide funds so that people
14 The pathmarking voting and ballot access decisions are Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections, 383 U. S. 663, 664, 666 (1966) (invalidating, as a denial of equal protection, an annual $1.50 poll tax imposed by Virginia on all residents over 21); Bullock v. Carter, 405 U. S. 134, 135, 145, 149 (1972) (invalidating Texas scheme under which candidates for local office had to pay fees as high as $8,900 to get on the ballot); Lubin v. Panish, 415 U. S. 709, 710, 718 (1974) (invalidating California statute requiring payment of a ballot-access fee fixed at a percentage of the salary for the office sought).
Notably, the Court in Harper recognized that "a State may exact fees from citizens for many different kinds of licenses." 383 U. S., at 668. For example, the State "can demand from all an equal fee for a driver's license." Ibid. But voting cannot hinge on ability to pay, the Court explained, for it is a " 'fundamental political right . . . preservative of all rights.' " Id., at 667 (quoting Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 370 (1886)). Bullock rejected as justifications for excluding impecunious persons, the State's concern about unwieldy ballots and its interest in financing elections. 405 U. S., at 144-149. Lubin reaffirmed that a State may not require from an indigent candidate "fees he cannot pay." 415 U. S., at 718.
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