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...