The Enemy of Poor Americans
Over the past half century, the Supreme Court’s empathy for the poor has been replaced by hostility.
In June 1968, the Supreme Court issued a 9–0 ruling giving back Sylvester Smith and her four young children their welfare benefits, and striking down the “man in the house” rule. At the time, Alabama was one of a number of states, many in the South, that removed families from the welfare rolls if the mother was having sexual relations with a man, even if he was not living with her and was not supporting her children. The Court’s ruling restored welfare rights to as many as 500,000 children nationwide and sent a message that welfare caseworkers had to keep out of poor people’s bedrooms.
The Smith decision was one of a long line of
