Lavine v. Milne

Decision Date03 March 1976
Docket NumberNo. 74-1137,74-1137
Citation96 S.Ct. 1010,424 U.S. 577,47 L.Ed.2d 249
PartiesAbe LAVINE, etc., Appellant, v. Ronald MILNE et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court
Syllabus

A New York welfare statute disqualifies from the receipt of Home Relief benefits for 75 days anyone who voluntarily terminates his employment or reduces his earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for benefits, and further provides, by way of a "rebuttable presumption," that a person who applies for assistance within 75 days after so voluntarily terminating his employment or reducing his earning capacity shall be "deemed" to have done so "for the purpose of qualifying for such assistance or a larger amount thereof, in the absence of evidence to the contrary supplied by such person." In this action challenging the constitutionality of the latter provision, a three-judge District Court held the provision to be violative of due process. Held: The "rebuttable presumption" provision does not deny due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment. Pp. 582-587.

(a) The provision's sole purpose is to indicate that, as with other eligibility requirements, the applicant rather than the State must establish that he did not leave employment for the purpose of qualifying for benefits, and the only "rebuttable presumption," if it can be so called, is the normal assumption that an applicant is not entitled to benefits unless and until he proves his eligibility. Pp. 583-585.

(b) The fact that under the prescribed procedure a decision, even one favorable to an applicant, ensuing from a hearing at which the applicant may appeal an adverse decision by the local welfare official need not be handed down until 90 days from the date the hearing was requested, thus extending beyond the 75-day waiting period, does not render such hearing procedure meaningless. The procedure for ascertaining the applicant's purpose in quitting his job is no different from the procedure for determining any of the other substantive requirements for welfare eligibility, and nothing in the Constitution requires that benefits be initiated prior to the determination of an applicant's qualifica- tions at an adjudicatory hearing. Even if an inordinately large number of applicants are initially denied benefits incorrectly because of a false evaluation of their motives in resigning jobs, the constitutionality of the procedure is not placed in doubt, since the Fourteenth Amendment does not guarantee that all state officials' decisions will be correct, and New York would seem to have no incentive to deny benefits wrongfully. P. 586-587.

(c) Even if the benefits are so small no one would be tempted to leave a job to receive them and the practical difficulty of proving one's state of mind may frequently lead to incorrect denial of benefits, and even assuming, Arguendo, that the burden of the "rebuttable presumption" provision on the industrious indigent far outweighs any conceivable gain to the State from screening out the indolent few, New York nevertheless prefers its chosen course, and it is not for this Court to assay the wisdom of that determination. P. 587.

384 F.Supp. 206, reversed and remanded.

Amy Juviler, New York City, for appellant

Gerald A. Norlander, New York City, for appellees, Pro hac vice, by special leave of Court.

Mr. Justice WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.

A New York welfare statute, N. Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 131(11) (Supp.1975),1 disqualifies from receipt of welfare for 75 days anyone who voluntarily terminates his employment or reduces his earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for Home Relief or Aid to Families with Dependent Children. A further provision that at issue in this case states that a person who applies for assistance within 75 days after voluntarily terminating his employment or reducing his earning capacity shall be "deemed" to have done so "for the purpose of qualifying for such assistance or a larger amount thereof, in the absence of evidence to the contrary supplied by such person." The question raised by this appeal from the judgment of a three-judge court is whether this "presumption" denies due process of law.

Appellee Milne and the appellee intervenors are all applicants for New York Home Relief a residual category of aid for needy individuals unable to qualify for other types of state or federal relief.2 In addition to meeting substantive financial eligibility requirements, see, E. g., 18 NYCRR §§ 352.27, 352.28, Home Relief applicants must meet the requirements of N. Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 131(11) (Supp.1975) and 18 NYCRR § 385.7 promulgated pursuant thereto. Section 131(11) provides:

"Any person who voluntarily terminated his employment or voluntarily reduced his earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for home relief or aid to dependent children or a larger amount thereof shall be disqualified from receiving such assistance for seventy-five days from such termination or reduction, unless otherwise required by federal law or regulation. Any person who applies for home relief or aid to dependent children or requests an increase in his grant within seventy-five days after voluntarily terminating his employment or reducing his earning capacity shall, unless otherwise required by federal law or regulation, be deemed to have voluntarily terminated his employment or reduced his earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for such assistance or a larger amount thereof, in the absence of evidence to the contrary supplied by such person."3

Each of the appellees was denied relief on the ground that his voluntary cessation of employment was "for the purpose of qualifying" for Home Relief; each was therefore barred from receiving aid for 75 days.

Contending that this statute and regulation violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, appellee Milne brought a class suit in the District Court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and damages against the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services and the Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Social Services. Jurisdiction was predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Since appellees sought an injunction against the enforcement of a state statute on the ground of its unconstitutionality, a three-judge court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281, 2284.

Upon cross-motions for summary judgment the three-judge court certified the class and held that the second sentence of § 131(11) and the supporting provision of 18 NYCRR § 385.7 were unconstitutional.4 Injunctive relief followed.5 The court found that § 131(11) cre- ated a "rebuttable presumption" that an applicant who voluntarily terminated his employment did so for a wrongful purpose. Relying upon decisions of this Court holding that presumptions are permissible unless they are unreasonable, arbitrary, or invidiously discriminatory, see, E. g., Bandini Petroleum Co. v. Superior Court, 284 U.S. 8, 52 S.Ct. 103, 76 L.Ed. 136 (1931); Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6, 89 S.Ct. 1532, 23 L.Ed.2d 57 (1969); Tot v. United States, 319 U.S. 463, 63 S.Ct. 1241, 87 L.Ed. 1519 (1943), the court held the rebuttable presumption irrational in violation of the Due Process Clause. "(T)here is an insufficient connection between the known fact, that is, application for public assistance within 75 days of an applicant's termination of employment, and the fact presumed by the statute, that is, that the applicant terminated his employment for the purpose of qualifying for public assistance."6 First, it found that the limits of relief were so low that no substantial number of people would leave work merely to obtain welfare benefits. Second, it determined that the poor have "the same desire to work and to obtain the fruits of work as the non-poor." Although the court recognized that the presumption could be rebutted, it found that the fair-hearing procedure of New York took so long frequently in excess of 75 days that it was "meaningless" in that even a determination favorable to the applicant would usually come after the 75-day penalty period had passed.

Appellant Lavine, the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services, appealed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1253, and we noted probable jurisdiction, 422 U.S. 1054, 95 S.Ct. 2676, 45 L.Ed.2d 706 (1975). We reverse.

As with any other welfare scheme, New York Home Relief imposes a host of requirements; and as is the case when applying for most governmental benefits, applicants for Home Relief bear the burden of showing their eligibil- ity in all respects. See, e. g., 18 NYCRR §§ 351.1(b)(2)ii, 351.6, 351.8, and 370.4(a).7 An applicant may not earn income or hold assets that exceed minimal levels. See 18 NYCRR §§ 352.16, 352.22, 352.28. He may be required in certain circumstances to dispose of any equity in his house, N. Y. Soc. Serv. Law §§ 104, 360 (1966 and Supp. 1975); 18 NYCRR § 352.27, or to sell his automobile, 18 NYCRR §§ 352.15(d), 352.28(b). If assistance is initially denied, the applicant may reapply on the basis of new evidence or may invoke his right to have his eligibility reviewed in a full administrative hearing. 18 NYCRR §§ 358.4-358.5. To the requirements found elsewhere in the New York welfare statutes and regulations, the first sentence of § 131(11) imposes an additional qualification: applicants who voluntarily terminate their employment with the purpose of obtaining Home Relief are ineligible to receive such benefits for 75 days. No challenge to this provision was raised or entertained in the court below.8

The second sentence of § 131(11), at issue here, provides that a person who applies for benefits within 75 days after the voluntary cessation of his employment is "deemed" to have quit "for the purpose of qualifying" for benefits, "in the absence of evidence to the contrary supplied by such person." Although the District Court found this to be an unconstitutional ...

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