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Levy v. Louisiana - Significance, The Levy Family, An Important Reversal: Illegitimate Children As Persons, An Important Reversal

Appellant

Adolph J. Levy

Appellee

State of Louisiana

Appellant's Claim

That a Louisiana law denying illegitimate children the right to recover damages for their mother's wrongful death violates the constitutional guarantee of Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Norman Dorsen

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

William A. Porteous III

Justices for the Court

William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas (writing for the Court), Abe Fortas, Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Hugo Lafayette Black, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart

Place

Washington D.C.

Date of Decision

20 May 1968

Decision

The Court ruled in favor of Levy and overturned two lower court decisions by finding that he has the right to claim for wrongful death damages.

Related Cases

  • Glona v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co., 391 U.S. 68 (1968).
  • Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971).
  • Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U.S. 164 (1972).
  • Mathews v. Lucas, 427 U.S. 495 (1976).

Sources

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Vol. 3. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1998.

Additional Topics

Levy v. Louisiana - Significance

This decision recognized the rights of illegitimate children as similar to the rights of others. The Court recognized illegitimate children as "persons" under Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision held that a state can not create a common legal right for children for certain issues and exclude illegitimate children from the benefit of such a right. The ruling together with later cour…

Levy v. Louisiana - Further Readings

Levy v. Louisiana - The Levy Family

Louise Levy gave birth to five illegitimate children. They all lived with her and she raised them as any parent would. For an income, Levy worked as a domestic servant. They routinely attended church every Sunday and were enrolled at a parochial school at the family expense. Upon her death, one son, Adolph J. Levy, filed a wrongful death suit under a Louisiana law on behalf of all five children. T…

Levy v. Louisiana - An Important Reversal: Illegitimate Children As Persons

By vote of 6-3, the Court reversed the two lower court rulings that illegitimate children could not make wrongful death claims under Louisiana law. Justice Douglas, writing a very brief opinion for the majority, first assessed whether illegitimate children were "persons" under the Constitution. Douglas quickly came to the conclusion that they clearly are "persons" within the meaning of the Equal P…

Levy v. Louisiana - An Important Reversal

In addressing the rights of illegitimate children, Levy was the first Supreme Court case recognizing that illegitimate children may have the same rights as legitimate children under the Equal Protection Clause. The ruling provided a basis for later rulings concerning legitimacy related to workers' compensation survivors benefits in Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. (1972), and social security b…

Levy v. Louisiana - Common Law Marriage

Common law marriage is based on an agreement between two legally competent persons to marry followed by a significant period of living together as husband and wife. The marriage does not rely on ceremony or the completion of specific legal procedures. Common law marriage is rooted in ancient Roman and early English custom before the mid-1700s. Marriage, then, merely required an agreement to be mar…

Alice Crimmins Trials: 1968 1971 - Trial Begins Three Years Later, Observed From Above, A New Trial, Suggestions For Further Reading [next] [back] Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley - Public Forum Doctrine, Legal Proceedings, Time, Place, And Manner And Equal Protection, Impact

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