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Welfare, Due Process, And "Brutal Need": The Requirement Of A Prior Hearing In State-Wide Benefit Reductions, Stephen A. Owens

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note examines the right of welfare recipients to request a prior hearing in the context of state-wide, across-the-board benefit reductions by a state. After reviewing the due process requirement of a pretermination hearing articulated by the Supreme Court in Goldberg v. Kelly, the Note examines the standard for reductions established by the HHS regulations. The Note also considers the various approaches taken by the courts in attempting to determine the constitutional and statutory requirements of a prior hearing in a state-wide reduction. The Note argues that the standard delineated by the HHS regulations and by some courts fails to …