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Because she lacked the funds, M.L.B. sought leave to appeal in forma pauperis. The Supreme Court of Mississippi denied her application on the ground that, under its precedent, there is no right to proceed in forma pauperis in civil appeals. In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, M.L.B. argued that a State may not, consistent with the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, condition appeals from trial court decrees terminating parental rights on the affected parent\u0027s ability to pay record preparation fees.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EMay a State, consistent with the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, condition appeals from trial court decrees terminating parental rights on the affected parent\u0027s ability to pay record preparation fees?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003ENo. In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court held that, just as a State may not block an indigent petty offender\u0027s access to an appeal afforded others, so Mississippi may not deny M.L.B., because of her poverty, appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence on which the trial court found her unfit to remain a parent. \u0022We place decrees forever terminating parental rights in the category of cases in which the State may not \u0027bolt the door to equal justice,\u0027\u0022 wrote Justice Ginsburg, \u0022recognizing that parental termination decrees are among the most severe forms of state action.\u0022 Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":39954,"name":"Robert B. McDuff","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/robert_b_mcduff","view_count":0,"last_name":"McDuff","roles":null,"thumbnail":null,"length_of_service":0,"identifier":"robert_b_mcduff"},"advocate_description":"Argued the cause for the petitioner","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_advocate\/case_advocate\/16902"},{"advocate":{"ID":40065,"name":"Rickey T. 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