In Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970), the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause requires a full evidentiary hearing before a recipient of certain government benefits is deprived of such benefits. The Goldberg decision set the parameters for procedural due process when dealing with the deprivation of a government benefit or entitlement. The Court recognized that a person has a property interest in certain government entitlements, which require notice and a hearing before a governmental entity (either state or federal) takes away an entitlement. Governmentally provided entitlements flowing from the largesse of the modern welfare state increased substantially in the United States during the twentieth century. The Goldberg court decided that such government entitlements (e.g., welfare payments, government pensions, professional licenses), are a form of "new property" that require pre-deprivation procedural protection.
See Also
External links
Findlaw.com - full text of Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970).