High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102 (1996), was a court case brought to the United States Supreme Court regarding a controversy over the Fourteenth Amendment. The Petitioner M.L.B. argued that the Mississippi Chancery Courts could not terminate her parental rights on the basis that she was unable to pay the court fees. M.L.B. had been sued by S.L.J. in order to terminate M.L.B.`s parental rights and gain the ability to adopt the children. The judge declared in favor of S.L.J. under the premise their decree was fair as it was based on the father’s and the father’s second wife’s fulfilling of the burden of proof through “clear and convincing evidence.”. Despite this statement, the Court never elaborated on this evidence or clearly explained why M.L.B.’s parental rights had been dismissed. When M.L.B. went to appeal, she was unable to pay for the record preparation fees of $2,352.36 and was denied. She then went to appeal under forma pauperis, but was again denied on the grounds that forma pauperis is only demanded in criminal, and not civil, cases. The case was then brought to the United States Supreme Court where M.L.B. held that an inability to pay court fees should not be decisive of something as precious as parental rights. She used the guidelines set out in the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to fight her case. The Supreme Court decided in the Petitioner’s favor and stated that in matters regarding parental rights a court may not stop a party from appealing their case based on financial means.