M. L. B. v. S. L. J., 519 U.S. 102, 42 (1996)

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Cite as: 519 U. S. 102 (1996)

Thomas, J., dissenting

closure actions seeking to oust persons from their homes of many years? 7

The majority seeks to provide assurances that its holding will not extend beyond parental termination suits. The holdings of Santosky and Lassiter—both of which involved parental termination—have not, we are told, been applied to other areas of law. Ante, at 128. This is not comforting. Both Santosky and Lassiter are cases that determined the requirements of due process (not equal protection) in the parental rights termination area. As the Court has said countless times, the requirements of due process vary considerably with the interest involved and the action to which it is subject. It is little wonder, then, that the specific due process requirements for one sort of action are not readily transferable to others. I have my doubts that today's opinion will be so confined. In the first place, it is not clear whether it is an equal protection or a due process opinion. Moreover, the principle on which it appears to rest hardly seems capable of stemming the tide. Petitioner is permitted a free appellate transcript because the interest that underlies her civil claim compares favorably to the interest of the misdemeanant facing a $500 fine and unknown professional difficulties in Mayer v. Chicago. Under the rule announced today, I do not see how a civil litigant could constitutionally be denied a free transcript in any case that involves an interest that is arguably as important as the interest in Mayer (which would appear to include all the types of cases that I mention above, and perhaps many others).8 What is more, it must be remembered that Griffin did not merely invent

7 Cf. Lindsey v. Normet, 405 U. S. 56, 89-90 (1972) (Douglas, J., dissenting in part) ("[W]here the right is so fundamental as the tenant's claim to his home, the requirements of due process should be more embracing").

8 Accordingly, Mississippi will no doubt find little solace in the fact that, as the majority notes, of 63,765 civil actions filed in Mississippi Chancery Court in 1995, 194 were parental termination cases. Ante, at 122. Mississippi pointed out in its brief that of these civil actions, "39,475 were domestic relations cases," "1027 involved custody or visitation, and 6080 were paternity cases." Brief for Respondents 28.

143

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