Supreme Court of the United States · 1981

Lassiter v. Department of Social Services

452 U.S. 18 (1981)

Holding

Due process does not categorically require appointed counsel for indigent parents in termination-of-parental-rights proceedings; trial courts decide case-by-case under the Mathews v. Eldridge balancing test, against the weighty parental interest in family integrity.

Precedent health-check

Neutral · 3,492 citing

Later courts cite it without significant positive or negative signal.

Treatment last confirmed July 18, 2026. Case-wide subsequent treatment; human-set. Not specific to any one passage.

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Claims relevant to this case

Childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) is associated with substantially elevated lifelong risk of depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use, and suicidality; quasi-experimental and genetically-informed designs indicate part of this association is causal, though smaller than raw associations because shared genetic and environmental factors also contribute.
Evidence: HighConsensus: Established Certified· child maltreatment / abuse & neglect outcomes