Rose v. Rose et al. (481 U.S. 619)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 18, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 481 U.S. 619 · 107 S. Ct. 2029
- Decided
- May 18, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case, we are asked to decide whether a state court has jurisdiction to hold a disabled veteran in contempt for failing to pay child support, where the veteran’s only means of satisfying this obligation is to utilize benefits received from the Veterans’ Administration under 38 U. S. C. § 314 as compensation for a service-connected disability. HH Appellant Charlie Wayne Rose is a totally disabled veteran of the Vietnam war. He married appellee Barbara Ann McNeil Rose in 1973, and the couple had two children before their marriage ended in October 1983, with a divorce decree from the Circuit Court for Washington County, Tennessee. In setting appellant’s financial responsibility for child support, the Circuit Court considered along with other factors identified by a Tennessee statute the “earning capacity, obligations and needs, and financial resources of each parent.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-101(e)(3) (1984) (formerly Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-820 (1977)). Appellant’s income was then, and is now, composed entirely of benefits received from the Veterans’ and Social Security Administrations. Appellant received monthly: $1,211 in veterans’ disability benefits; $1,806 in veterans’ aid and attendance benefits; $90 in veterans’ dependents’ benefits; and $281 in Social Security disability benefits. The children received an…
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