Facts
- A mother of five children born out of wedlock raised them in a household functioning as a family unit.
- After allegedly negligent medical treatment at a state hospital, the mother died.
- The children’s administratrix sued under Louisiana Civil Code art. 2315 seeking (1) wrongful-death damages for the children’s loss of their mother and (2) survival damages for the mother’s pain and suffering.
- Louisiana courts construed art. 2315 to exclude illegitimate children from the class of “children” entitled to recover and dismissed the suit.
- The state courts justified the exclusion as serving “morals and general welfare” by discouraging births out of wedlock.
Issues
- Whether interpreting Louisiana Civil Code art. 2315 to deny illegitimate children any recovery for the wrongful death of their mother violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Decision
- The Supreme Court reversed the dismissal in a 6–3 decision.
- The Court held that illegitimate children are “persons” protected by the Equal Protection Clause.
- Denying them wrongful-death recovery solely because of illegitimacy is an invidious discrimination.
- The asserted state justification—discouraging out-of-wedlock births—did not justify withholding a remedy for the alleged tort that killed the mother because legitimacy has no relation to the wrong inflicted.
- Justice Harlan dissented, joined by Justices Black and Stewart, arguing for greater deference to state choices about defining statutory beneficiaries.
Legal Principles
- Illegitimate children are “persons” within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and may not be excluded from legal protections based solely on birth status.
- A state violates equal protection when it draws a classification that denies a civil remedy to a class of children where the classification is unrelated to the nature of the alleged wrongful conduct and operates as a penalty for the parents’ conduct.
- Wrongful-death beneficiary classifications based solely on legitimacy, without a relevant connection to the statute’s remedial purpose, constitute unconstitutional discrimination.
Conclusion
The Court held that Louisiana could not constitutionally deny illegitimate children the right to recover for the wrongful death of their mother under art. 2315, because excluding them solely due to illegitimacy is an invidious discrimination barred by the Equal Protection Clause.