Source: http://openjurist.org/496/us/478/sullivan-v-stroop
Timestamp: 2015-03-31 15:31:33
Document Index: 422320812

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 402', '§ 602', '§ 602', '§ 602', 'art, 494', '§ 601']

496 US 478 Sullivan v. Stroop | OpenJurist
496 U.S. 478 - Sullivan v. Stroop	Home496 us 478 sullivan v. stroop
496 US 478 Sullivan v. Stroop 496 U.S. 478
110 S.Ct. 2499
110 L.Ed.2d 438
Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Petitionerv.Elizabeth STROOP, et al.
In this case we review a determination by petitioner, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, that "child's insurance benefits" paid pursuant to Title II of the Social Security Act, see 49 Stat. 623, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 402(d) (1982 ed. and Supp. V), do not constitute "child support" as that term is used in a provision in Title IV of the Act governing eligibility for Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC). See 42 U.S.C § 602(a)(8)(A)(vi) (1982 ed., Supp. V). We uphold the Secretary's determination and reverse the contrary holding of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
". . . [W]ith respect to any month, in making the determination under [§ 602(a)(7) ], the State agency—
"shall disregard the first $50 of any child support payments received in such month with respect to the dependent child or children in any family applying for or receiving aid to families with dependent children (including support payments collected and paid to the family under section 657(b) of this title). . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(8)(A)(vi) (1982 ed., Supp. V) (emphasis added).
"[t]he legal obligation of parents to contribute to the economic maintenance, including education, of their children; enforceable in both civil and criminal contexts. In a dissolution or custody action, money paid by one parent to another toward the expenses of children of the marriage."
Attorneys who have practiced in the area of domestic relations law will immediately recognize this definition. Respondents insist, however, that we have traditionally "turned to authorities of general reference, not to legal dictionaries, to [give] 'ordinary meaning to ordinary words.' " Brief for Respondents 20 (citing Sullivan v. Everhart, 494 U.S. 83, 91-92, 110 S.Ct. 960, 965-966, 108 L.Ed.2d 72 (1990)). But the general reference work upon which respondents principally rely defines "child support" as "money paid for the care of one's minor child, esp[ecially] payments to a divorced spouse or a guardian under a decree of divorce." Random House Dictionary of the English Language 358 (2d ed.1987) (emphasis added) (cited at Brief for Respondents 20). Respondents also seek to bolster their view with definitions of the word "support" from other dictionaries. Ibid. But where a phrase in a statute appears to have become a term of art, as is the case with "child support" in Title IV, any attempt to break down the term into its constituent words is not apt to illuminate its meaning.
Congress' use of "child support" throughout Title IV shows no intent to depart from common usage. As previously noted, the provisions governing eligibility for AFDC benefits, including the "disregard" provision in issue here, are contained in Title IV of the Social Security Act. 42 U.S.C. §§ 601-679 (1982 ed. and Supp. V). Title IV, as its heading discloses, establishes a unified program of grants "For Aid and Services to Needy Families With Children and For Child-Welfare Services" to be implemented through cooperative efforts of