''Flemming v. Nestor'', 363 U.S. 603 (1960), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case in which the Court upheld the
constitutionality
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
of Section 1104 of the 1935
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...
. In this Section, Congress reserved to itself the power to
amend
Amend as a verb means to change or modify something, as in:
*Constitutional amendment, a change to the constitution of a nation or a state
*Amend (motion), a motion to modify a pending main motion in parliamentary procedure
Amend as a surname may ...
and revise the schedule of benefits.
Background
A 1954 amendment to the Social Security Act stripped old-age benefits from contributors who were deported under the
Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including:
* Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
* Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
* Immigration Act of 1990
See also
* List of United States immigration legisla ...
. The following year Ephram Nestor, an
alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
from Bulgaria who had paid into Social Security for 19 years, began drawing benefits. Nestor was subsequently deported for involvement in the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
, and his benefits were terminated. He sued the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on the basis that the amendment had deprived him of a property interest in Social Security without
due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
and was therefore invalid.
Opinion of the Court
The Court ruled that there is no
contractual right
A concession or concession agreement is a grant of rights, land or property by a government, local authority, corporation, individual or other legal entity.
Public services such as water supply may be operated as a concession. In the case of a p ...
to receive Social Security payments. Payments due under Social Security are not “property” and are not protected by the Takings Clause of the
Fifth Amendment. The interest of a beneficiary of Social Security is protected only by the Due Process Clause.
Under Due Process Clause analysis, government action is valid unless it is patently arbitrary and utterly lacking in rational justification. This provision of §202(n) is not irrational; it could have been justified by the desire to increase the purchasing power of those living in America, because those living abroad would not spend their payments domestically.
Critique
The case has been criticized on many grounds. In dissent,
Justice Black argued that the Court's holding was motivated by anti-communist bias.
Charles A. Reich argued that Social Security benefits should be considered to be "property" for the purposes of the Fifth Amendment. Social Security, he argued, is a compulsory substitute for private property, is heavily relied on, and is important to beneficiaries. The beneficiary's right to Social Security, he argued, should not be subject to public policy considerations (especially not something resembling a loyalty oath, as was the case in Flemming). According to this argument, allowing government benefits to be revoked in this way too extensively threatens the system of private property.
Further reading
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External links
* {{caselaw source
, case = ''Flemming v. Nestor'', {{Ussc, 363, 603, 1960, el=no
, findlaw =https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/363/603.html
, justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/363/603/
, loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep363/usrep363603/usrep363603.pdf
, oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1959/54
Case Details from the Social Security Administration
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court
Social Security lawsuits
Takings Clause case law
United States administrative case law
United States immigration and naturalization case law
1960 in United States case law