The Constitutionality of Government Fees as Applied to the Poor

The United States Supreme Court has considered on many occasions the constitutionality of government fees that indigent persons were unable to pay. As a result of their inability to pay, these indigent persons were initially denied access to legal process, (in both the civil and criminal context), access to electoral processes and access to general government services. The most recent decision of the Supreme Court involving this issue, M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102 (1996), has resulted in a lack of clarity as to the constitutional principles that the Court will consider to decide this issue.This article examines the history of the Supreme Court’s decisions on this issue and analyzes the coherence of the constitutional doctrine that arises from them. The article concludes with the author’s suggestion that the Supreme Court apply traditional equal protection analysis to this issue in the future.