Swoap v. Superior Court
Supreme Court of California
516 P.2d 840 (Cal. 1973)
California's Old Age Security Law (OASL) provided public assistance to needy elderly individuals while requiring their adult children to contribute to that support according to a schedule, later revised upward, and permitted counties to sue an adult child to collect unpaid contributions. A class of adult children and their elderly parents (plaintiffs) sued David Swoap, the state's Health and Welfare Secretary (defendant), and others, arguing the OASL's support obligation violated equal protection; the Superior Court of Sacramento County issued a statewide temporary restraining order enjoining enforcement, and the defendants appealed.
Whether a state law requiring an adult child to be held financially responsible, to the extent possible, for an elderly, indigent parent in need of assistance violates the Equal Protection Clause.