Home > Great American Court Cases > Califano v. Goldfarb

Legal Citation: 430 U.S. 199 (1977)

Appellant
Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare on behalf of the Social Security benefits program

Appellee
Leon Goldfarb, on behalf of widowers seeking survivors benefits from the program

Appellant's Claim
That the Social Security Act's gender-based distinction requiring widowers to prove that they were dependent on their spouses for at least half of their support in order to receive survivor benefits, did not discriminate against the deceased females.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant
Keith A. Jones

Chief Lawyer for Appellee
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justices for the Court
William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger,...