ATKINS, COMMISSIONER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE v. PARKER ET AL.
No. 83-1660
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Argued November 27, 1984—Decided June 4, 1985
472 U.S. 115
*Together with No. 83-6381, Parker et al. v. Block, Secretary of Agriculture, et al., also on certiorari to the same court.
Ellen L. Janos, Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts, argued the cause for petitioner in No. 83-1660. With her on the briefs were Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General, and E. Michael Sloman and Carl Valvo, Assistant Attorneys General.
Steven A. Hitov argued the cause for Parker et al. in both cases. With him on the briefs was J. Paterson Rae.†
In November, and again in December 1981, the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare mailed a written notice to over 16,000 recipients advising them that a recent change in federal law might result in either a reduction or a termination of their food-stamp benefits. The notice did not purport to explain the precise impact of the change on each individual recipient. The question this case presents is whether that notice violated any federal statute or regulation, or the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unlike the District Court and the Court of Appeals, we conclude that there was no violation.
In an attempt to “permit low-income households to obtain a more nutritious diet through normal channels of trade,”1 Congress created a federally subsidized food-stamp program. The Secretary of Agriculture prescribes the standards for eligibility for food stamps,2 but state agencies are authorized to make individual eligibility determinations and to distribute the food stamps to eligible households, which may use them to purchase food from approved, retail food stores.3 The eligibility of an individual household, and the amount of its food-
Prior to 1981, federal law provided that 20 percent of the household‘s earned income should be deducted, or disregarded, in computing eligibility.6 The purpose of the earned-income disregard was to maintain the recipients’ incentive to earn and to report income. In 1981 Congress amended the Food Stamp Act to reduce this deduction from 20 percent to 18 percent.7 That amendment had no effect on households with no income or with extremely low income, but caused a reduction of benefits in varying amounts, or a complete termination of benefits, for families whose income placed them close to the border between eligibility and ineligibility.8
On September 4, 1981, the Department of Agriculture issued regulations providing for the implementation of the change in the earned-income disregard and directing the States to provide notice to food-stamp recipients.9 That directive indicated that the form of the notice might comply with the regulations dealing with so-called “mass changes,”10
In November, the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare (Department) mailed a brief, ambiguously dated notice to all food-stamp recipients with earned income advising them that the earned-income deduction had been lowered from 20 percent to 18 percent and that the change would result in either a reduction or a termination of their benefits. The notice was printed on a card, in English on one side and Spanish on the other. The notice stated that the recipient had a right to request a hearing “if you disagree with this action,” and that benefits would be reinstated if a hearing was requested within 10 days of the notice.12
On December 10, 1981, petitioners in No. 83-6381 commenced this action on behalf of all Massachusetts households
The Department, in compliance with the District Court‘s order, mailed supplemental benefits for the month of December to each of the 16,640 class members. It then sent out a second notice, in English and Spanish versions, dated December 26, which stated in part:
“* * * IMPORTANT NOTICE—READ CAREFULLY * * *
“RECENT CHANGES IN THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM HAVE BEEN MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1981 FEDERAL LAW. UNDER THIS LAW, THE EARNED INCOME DEDUCTION FOR FOOD STAMP BENEFITS HAS BEEN LOWERED FROM 20 TO 18 PERCENT. THIS REDUCTION MEANS THAT A HIGHER PORTION OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD‘S EARNED INCOME WILL BE COUNTED IN DETERMINING YOUR ELIGIBILITY AND BENEFIT AMOUNT FOR FOOD STAMPS. AS A RESULT OF THIS FEDERAL CHANGE, YOUR BENEFITS WILL EITHER BE REDUCED IF YOU REMAIN ELIGIBLE OR YOUR BENEFITS WILL BE TERMINATED. (FOOD STAMP MANUAL CITATION: 106 CMR:364.400).
“YOUR RIGHT TO A FAIR HEARING:
“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REQUEST A FAIR HEARING IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THIS AC-
TION. IF YOU ARE REQUESTING A HEARING, YOUR FOOD STAMP BENEFITS WILL BE REINSTATED. . . . IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CORRECTNESS OF YOUR BENEFITS COMPUTATION OR THE FAIR HEARING PROCESS, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL WELFARE OFFICE. YOU MAY FILE AN APPEAL AT ANY TIME IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE NOT RECEIVING THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF FOOD STAMPS.”14
Petitioners filed a supplemental complaint attacking the adequacy of this notice, and again moved for a preliminary injunction. In October 1982, the District Court consolidated the hearing on that motion with the trial on the merits and again ruled in petitioners’ favor. The District Court found that there was a significant risk of error in the administration of the food-stamp program, particularly with the implementation of the change in the earned-income disregard, and that the failure to provide each recipient with an adequate notice increased the risk of error. In essence, the District Court concluded that the December notice was defective because it did not advise each household of the precise change in its benefits, or with the information necessary to enable the recipient to calculate the correct change; because it did not tell recipients whether their benefits were being reduced or terminated; and because the reading level and format of the notice made it difficult to comprehend.15 Based on the
As a remedy, the District Court ordered the Department “to return forthwith to each and every household in the plaintiff class all food stamp benefits lost as a result of the action taken pursuant to the December notice” between January 1, 1981, and the date the household received adequate notice, had its benefits terminated for a reason unrelated to the change in the earned-income disregard, or had its file recertified.18 The District Court also ordered that all future food-stamp notices issued by the Department contain various data, including the old and new benefit amounts, and that the Department issue regulations, subject to court approval, governing the form of future food-stamp notices.19
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed with the District Court‘s constitutional holding, indi-
Petitioners in No. 83-6381 sought review of the Court of Appeals’ modification of the District Court‘s remedy, and the Department, in No. 83-1660, cross-petitioned for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the holding on liability. We granted both the petition and the cross-petition, and invited the Solicitor General to participate in the argument. 467 U. S. 1250 (1984). We conclude that the notice was lawful, and therefore have no occasion to discuss the remedy issue that the petition in No. 83-6381 presents. Because there would be no need to decide the constitutional question if we found a violation of either the statute or the regulations,22 we first consider the statutory issue.
I
The only reference in the Food Stamp Act to a notice is contained in
The language of the proviso does not itself command that any notice be given, but it does indicate that Congress assumed that individual notice would be an element of the fair-hearing requirement. Thus, whenever a household is entitled to a fair hearing, it is appropriate to read the statute as imposing a requirement of individual notice that would enable the household to request such a hearing. The hearing requirement, and the incidental reference to “individual notice,” however, are by their terms applicable only to “agency action reducing or terminating” a household‘s benefits. Therefore, it seems unlikely that Congress contemplated individual hearings for every household affected by a general change in the law.
The legislative history of
Nor can we find any basis for concluding that the December notice failed to comply with the applicable regulations. Title
“(ii) A notice of adverse action is not required when a household‘s food stamp benefits are reduced or terminated as a result of a mass change in the public assistance grant. However, State agencies shall send individual notices to households to inform them of the change. If a household requests a fair hearing, benefits shall be continued at the former level only if the issue being appealed is that food stamp eligibility or benefits were improperly computed.”
This regulation reflects the familiar distinction between an individual adverse action and a mass change. The statement that a notice of adverse action is not required when a change of benefits results from a mass change surely implies that individual computations are not required in such cases. The two requirements that are imposed when a mass change occurs are: (1) that “individual” notice be sent and (2) that it “inform them of the change.” In this case, a separate individual notice was sent to each individual household and it did “inform them of the change” in the program that Congress had mandated. Since the word “change” in the regulation
II
Since the notice of the change in the earned-income disregard was sufficient under the statute and under the regulations, we must consider petitioners’ claim that they had a constitutional right to advance notice of the amendment‘s spеcific impact on their entitlement to food stamps before the statutory change could be implemented by reducing or terminating their benefits. They argue that an individualized calculation of the new benefit was necessary in order to avoid the risk of an erroneous reduction or termination.
The record in this case indicates that members of petitioners’ class had their benefits reduced or terminated for either or both of two reasons: (1) because Congress reduced the earned-income disregard from 20 percent to 18 percent; or (2) because inadvertent errors were made in calculating benefits. These inadvertent errors, however, did not necessarily result from the statutory change, but rather may have been attributable to a variety of factors that can occur in the administration of any large welfare program.30 For ex-
Food-stamp benefits, like the welfare benefits at issue in Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U. S. 254 (1970), “are a matter of statutory entitlement for persons qualified to receive them.” Id., at 262 (footnote omitted). Such entitlements are appropriately treated as a form of “property” protected by the Due Process Clause; accordingly, the procedures that are employed in determining whether an individual may continue to participate in the statutory program must comply with the commands of the Constitution. Id., at 262-263.31
The congressional decision to lower the earned-income deduction from 20 percent to 18 percent gave many food-stamp households a less valuable entitlement in 1982 than they had received in 1981. But the 1981 entitlement did not include any right to have the program continue indefinitely at the same level, or to phrase it another way, did not include any right to the maintenance of the same level of property entitlement. Before the statutory change became effective, the existing property entitlement did not qualify the legislature‘s power to substitute a different, less valuable entitlement at a later date. As we have frequently noted: “[A] welfare recipient is not deprived of due process when the legislature
The participants in the food-stamp program had no greater right to advance notice of the legislative change—in this case, the decision to change the earned-income disregard level—than did any other voters.33 They do not claim that there was any defect in the legislative process. Because the substantive reduction in the level of petitioners’ benefits was the direct consequence of the statutory amendment, they have no basis for challenging the procedure that caused them to receive a different, less valuable property interest after the amendment became effective.
The claim that petitioners had a constitutional right to better notice of the consequences of the statutory amendment is without merit. All citizens are presumptively charged with knowledge of the law, see, e. g., North Laramie Land Co. v. Hoffman, 268 U. S. 276, 283 (1925). Arguably that presumption may be overcome in cases in which the statute does not allow a sufficient “grace period” to provide the persons affected by a change in the law with an adequate opportunity to become familiar with their obligations under it. See Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U. S. 516, 532 (1982). In this case, however, not only was there a grace period of over 90
As a matter of constitutional law there can be no doubt concerning the sufficiency of the notice describing the effect of the amendment in general terms. Surely Congress can presume that such a notice relative to a matter as important as a change in a household‘s food-stamp allotment would prompt an appropriate inquiry if it is not fully understood. The entire structure of our democratic government rests on the premise that the individual citizen is capable of informing himself about the particular policies that affect his destiny. To contend that this notice was constitutionally insufficient is to reject that premise.35
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
It is so ordered.
When the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare (Department) implemented the 1981 statutory reduction in food stamp benefits for persons with earned income, it sent out form notices telling over 16,000 recipients that their benefits would be “reduced . . . or . . . terminated” without specifying which. App. 5. The notices contained no information about any particular recipient‘s case. The District Court declared the notices unlawful under the Due Process Clause as well as the relevant regulation and statute “because . . . [they] did not contain the individual recipient‘s оld food stamp benefit amount, new benefit amount, or the amount of earned income that was being used to compute the change.”1 The Court of Appeals agreed, finding the notices statutorily and “constitutionally deficient” because they “failed to inform.” Foggs v. Block, 722 F. 2d 933, 940 (CA1 1983). The Court today reverses, finding that “individual computations” are not required by regulation, statute, or Constitution. Ante, at 126. I disagree with the Court‘s interpretation of all three authorities. Accordingly, I dissent.
I
Title
First, the sentence in
“If a household requests a fair hearing [after receiving a mass change notice], benefits shall be continued at the former level only if the issue being appealed is that food stamp eligibility or benefits were improperly computed.”
7 CFR § 273.12(e)(2)(ii) (1985) (emphasis added).
In the absence of some contrary indication, normal construction of language requires the conclusion that the Secretary employed different terms in the same regulation to mean different things. See Crawford v. Burke, 195 U. S. 176, 190 (1904); R. Dickerson, The Interpretation and Application of Statutes 224-225 (1975). And it is clear that the difference between the two types of notice must lie in their informational content, “general” versus “individual,” because both types of notice must be mailed to individual households.9 “General notices mailed to households” required no more than a form letter of identical content mailed to each of a large number of affected households; in contrast, “individual notice” going to many households must imply some more particularized, “individual” content.
Finally, the Court argues that the regulatory decision not to require a “notice of adverse aсtion” for mass changes “surely implies” a decision to forgo “individual computations” as well. Ante, at 126. No such implication is logically required, however. The Court apparently fails to understand that “notice of adverse action” is a technical term of art used in the food stamp regulations to describe a special type of
“Although households are not entitled to a notice of adverse action for mass changes[,] the regulations propose that States send households an individual notice which informs the household of the change but does not grant the household continuation rights if the household appeals the State agency action. In this way, households are advised of the change and can adjust household budgets accordingly.” 43 Fed. Reg. 18896 (1978).11
Nothing was said to suggest that individual computations were not required in either type of notice. Indeed, by stating a purpose of providing affected households sufficient information so that they could adjust their budgets, the plain implication is to the contrary: each household was to be notified of mass changes in individual terms. It is difficult
As far as I can tell, there has been no contemporaneous or consistent administrative interpretation of the regulation at issue; indeed, there has been no interpretation at all. Based on the language, function, and history of the regulation itself, however, any logical implication to be drawn is that the “individual notice” required by
II
I can agree with the Court that the relevant statutory section,
Although the Food Stamp Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 703, as amended,
Aside from language and legislative history, the logic of the statutory scheme is distorted by the Court‘s suggestion
Notice of reductions in benefit levels is thus the necessary predicate to implementation of the statutory fair hearing requirement. Indeed, the Court apparently accepts this view, stating that “whenever a household is entitled to a fair hearing, it is appropriate to read the statute as imposing a requirement of individual notice that would enable the household to request such a hearing.” Ante, at 124. It is clear, however, that Congress intended and the regulations guarantee that mass reductions rightfully may be appealed if the claim is miscalculation. Yet the Court concludes there is no statutory “command to give notice of a general change in the law.” Ante, at 126. This conclusion may generally be correct with regard to enactment of changes in the law, see Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U. S. 516 (1982), but the plain terms of
The unambiguous purpose of the fair hearing and benefit continuation requirements of
III
Because food stamp benefits are a matter of statutory entitlement, recipients may claim a property interest only in the level of benefits to which they are entitled under the law, as calculated under whatever statutory formula is provided. Congress may reduce the entitlement level or alter the formula through the normal legislative process, and that process pretermits any claim that Congress’ action constitutes unconstitutional deprivation of property. See Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U. S. 422, 432-433 (1982).
Arguing from similar premises, the Court concludes that the food stamp recipients in these cases had no special right to “advance notice of the legislative change” in the earned-income deduction in 1981. Ante, at 130. The recipients, however, have never contended that they had a right to “advance notice” of the enactment of congressional legislation,20 and I do not intend to argue for that proposition here. “It is
Instead, these cases involve the implementation of Congress’ decision by its agents, the various state agencies that administer food stamp programs across the country. Owing to factors unique to the state agency and having nothing to do with Congress, implementation of the change in Massachusetts resulted in the erroneous reduction of food stamp benefits for a number of households. Ante, at 127; see infra, at 151, and n. 27. Because recipients have a constitutionally cognizable property interest in their proper statutory entitlement levels, it is deprivation of those interests by the state agency, and not the passage of legislation by Congress, that requires our constitutional attention in this case.21
My consideration of these arguments is informed by two unchallenged facts. First, although not mentioned by the Court, when the Department sent its form notice and implemented the earned-income deduction change in December 1981, its officials knew that a substantial data entry backlog in its computerized record system meant that its food stamp files contained inaccurate earned-income information for a number of recipients. App. 85-89 (testimony of the Department‘s Systems Director); id., at 214 (testimony of the Deputy Director of the Department‘s computerized file system); see also 722 F. 2d, at 938-939; Pet. App. 77-80. Thus the Department knew full well that when it took action to implement the legislative change, the food stamp benefits of a number of recipients were likely to be erroneously reduced or terminated. While the absence of such clеar foreknowledge
Second, the officials in charge of the Department‘s computer systems testified without contradiction that it was “not a problem” to generate a notice containing the individualized information ordered by the District Court, since that information was already contained in the computers, and that the necessary programming might have taken “a few hours.” App. 224; see id., at 80-84, 217-227. Thus the District Court‘s finding, unquestioned by the Court today, was that it was likely that individualized notices could have been provided in December 1981 “without causing any delay” or any “real hardship” to the Department. Pet. App. 74-75, 94.
A
In my view, the Court‘s offhand discussion of “inadvertent errors” is fogged by an unspoken conceptual confusion in identifying the constitutional deprivation claimed in these cases. In traditional cases arising under the Due Process Clause, a governmental deprivation of property is not difficult to identify: an individual possesses a set amount of property and the government‘s action either does, or does not, deprive the individual of some or all of it. Where “new” property interests—that is, statutory entitlements—are involved, however, claimants have an interest only in their benefit level as correctly determined under the law, rather than in any particular preordained amount. Thus, while any deprivation of tangible property by the State implicates the Due Process Clause, only an erroneous governmental reduction of benefits, one resulting in less than the statutorily specified amount, effects a deprivation subject to constitutional constraint. It is the error, and not the reduction per se, that is the deprivation.
Keeping this point in mind, it is readily apparent that this Court‘s application of the Due Process Clause to governmental administrative action has not only encompassed, but
“[A] primary function of legal process is to minimize the risk of erroneous decisions,” Mackey v. Montrym, 443 U. S. 1, 13 (1979). Consequently, a foreseeable action that may cause deprivation of property must be “preceded by notice.” Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U. S. 306, 313 (1950) (emphasis added).24 As we made clear in Goldberg, 397 U. S., at 267, in statutory entitlement cases the Due Process Clause normally requires “timely and adequate notice detailing the reasons” for proposed adverse administrative action. Such process is constitutionally required whenever the action may be “challenged . . . as resting on incorrect or misleading factual premises or on misapplication of rules or policies to the facts of particular cases.” Id., at 268.
Because the errors in these cases cannot merely be ignored, I turn to the central constitutional inquiry: what process was due in light of “the practicalities and peculiarities of the case“? Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., supra, at 314. Experience demonstrates that balanced consideration of a number of factors is required: the importance of the private interest affected, the risk of erroneous deprivation under the system challenged, the protective value of the different procedures proposed, and the government‘s interests, including any “fiscal and administrative burdens” created by different procedures. Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U. S., at 434; Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S., at 334-335. These interests are relevant to determining the “content of the notice” as well as its timing and other procedural claims. Goss v. Lopez, 419 U. S. 565, 579 (1975). Although the interests normally relevant to the constitutional due process inquiry are often characterized as “competing,” e. g., Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U. S. 532, 542 (1985), the record makes clear that the Department failed to demonstrate any countervailing interest in not providing individualized notices in this case.
1. Importance of the Interest. The importance of the correct level of food stamp benefits to eligible households cannot be overstated. Designed “[t]o alleviate . . . hunger and malnutrition” and allow poverty level families “to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet,”
The Department did not challenge the recipients’ proof regarding the risk of error at trial, but instead argued as it
3. Value of Additional Procedures. Adequate notice under the Due Process Clause has two components. It must inform affected parties of the action about to be taken against them as well as of procedures available for challenging that action. Memphis Light, 436 U. S., at 13; Mullane, 339 U. S., at 314. These requirements serve discrete purposes: adequate notice of the action itself permits the individual to evaluate its accuracy or propriety and to determine whether or not to contest it; notice of how to appeal ensures that available error-correction procedures will be effective. In Memphis Light, supra, the second component was examined, and I have no doubt that the Court today correctly concludes that recipients of the mass change notice here were adequately informed of the “procedure for protesting.” 436 U. S., at 15; see ante, at 128.
These cases are the converse of Memphis Light, however, and the subtle yet vital failure of the notice here is that it completely failed to inform recipients of the particular action proposed to be taken against them by the Department.29 The
The Court ultimately brushes aside any value that individualized notice may have had, stating that “citizens are presumptively charged with knowledge of the law,” and asserting that “[s]urely Congress can presume that [a form] notice relative to a matter as important as a change in a food-stamp allotment would prompt an appropriate inquiry if not fully understood.” Ante, at 130, 131. This reasoning is wholly unpersuasive. First, I am unwilling to agree that “[t]he entire structure of our democratic government,” ante, at 131, rests on a presumption that food stamp recipients know and comprehend the arcane intricacies of an entitlement program that requires over 350 pages in the Code of Federal Regulations to explain and voluminous state manuals to administer. I am more certain that the premises of our polity include minimal protections for the property interests of the poor.
Moreover, in Memphis Light, the Court flatly rejected the argument that the poor can protect themselves without
Additionally, this record reveals that the Court‘s reliance on the protective value of an “appropriate inquiry” is misplaced. The notice here did indeed state that recipients should call their local welfare office if they had “questions concerning the correctness of [their] benefits computation.” App. 5. Putting aside the fact that the notice did not inform any recipient of his “benefits computation,” the testimony of the representative named plaintiffs at trial was uniformly that the local welfare workers they called about the notice were either unaware of it or could not explain it. Id., at 131 (Zades), 139 (Parker), 149 (Johnson). With no help forthcoming at the local level, the 10-day appeal period was virtually certain to expire before even those recipients who called would receive a specific explanation enabling them intelligently to decide whether or not to appeal.
Finally, the Mathews inquiry simply does not countenance rejection of procedural alternatives because a court finds existing procedures “adequate” in some ad hoc sense, without evaluation of whether additional procedures might have been more protective at little or no cost to the government. Yet the Court discusses neither the protective value of individ-
4. Governmental Interests. The District Court concluded that only four simple facts were necessary to transform this vague notice into one that adequately informed affected individuals about the Department‘s action in their particular cases: “whether [their benefits] were being reduced or terminated” and “the individual recipient‘s old food stamp benefit amount, new benefit amount, [and] the amount of earned income that was being used to compute the change.” Pet. App. 100. These data were already contained in the Department‘s computerized files, and the computers could have been programmed to print the individualized information on the form notices with little additional time or effort.33 The District Court‘s finding, not questioned by the Court today, was that programming the computer to provide such individual information is “neither a difficult nor burdensome procedure,” id., at 75-76, and that had the Department requested that such individualized data be printed on the December 1981 notices, it was likely that it could have been accomplished “without causing any delay . . . .” Id., at 74, 75. This record, therefore, can support no argument that individualized notice would have been a burden for the Department.34
The Court‘s regulatory conclusion is unconvincing, and its statutory dictum is unfortunate. But I am most troubled by the Court‘s casual suggestion that foreseeable “inadvertent” errors in the administration of entitlement programs may be ignored in determining what protection the Constitution provides. Such administrative error аll too often plagues governmental programs designed to aid the poor.35 If well-meaning mistakes that might be prevented inexpensively lie entirely outside the compass of the Due Process Clause, then the convenience of the administrative state comes at the expense of those least able to confront the bureaucracy. I respectfully dissent.
JUSTICE MARSHALL, dissenting.
I share JUSTICE BRENNAN‘S view that the logic of the relevant regulation,
Notes
“A notice of adverse action is not required when a household‘s food stamp benefits are reduced or terminated as a result of a mass change in the public assistance grant. However, State agencies shall send individual notices to households to inform them of the change. If a household requests a fair hearing, benefits shall be continued at the former level only if the issue being appealed is that food stamp eligibility or benefits were improperly computed.”
“(e) Mass changes. . . .
“(1) Federal adjustments to eligibility standards, allotments, and deductions, State adjustments to utility standards. . . .
“(ii) Although a notice of adverse action is not required, State agencies may send an individual notice to households of these changes. State agencies shall publicize these mass changes through the news media; posters in
certification offices, issuance locations, or other sites frequented by certified households; or general notices mailed to households. . . .“(2) Mass changes in public assistance. . . .
“(ii) A notice of adverse action is not required when a household‘s food stamp benefits are reduced or terminated as a result of a mass change in the public assistance grant. However, State agencies shall send individual notices to households to inform them of the change. . . .”
“(e) Mass changes. Certain changes are initiated by the State or Federal government which may affect the entire caseload or significant (continued) portions of the caseload. These changes include adjustments to the income eligibility standards, the shelter and dependent care deductions, the Thrifty Food Plan, and the standard deduction; annual and seasonal adjustments to Social Security, SSI, and other Federal benefits, periodic adjustments to AFDC or GA payments; and other changes in the eligibility criteria based on legislative or regulatory actions.
. . .
“(2) . . . (ii) A notice of adverse action is not required when a household‘s food stamp benefits are reduced or terminated as a result of a mass change in the public assistance grant. However, State agencies shall send individual notices to households to inform them of the change. If a household requests a fair hearing, benefits shall be continued at the former level only if the issue being appealed is that food stamp eligibility or benefits were improperly computed.” In 1981, when the Department acted in this case, a “notice of adverse action” was required to contain
“in easily understandable language . . . [t]he proposed action; the reason for the proposed action; the household‘s right to request a fair hearing; the telephone number and, if possible, the name of the person to contact for additional information; the availability of continued benefits; and the liability of the household for any overissuances received while awaiting a fair hearing . . . . If there is an individual or organization available that provides free legal representation, the notice shall also advise the household of the availability of the service.”
“(a) Use of notice. Prior to any action to reduce or terminate a household‘s benefits within the certification period, the State agency shall, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, provide the household timely and adequate advance notice before the adverse action is taken.”
“(b) Exemptions from notice. Individual notices of adverse action are not required when:
“(1) The State initiates a mass change as described in
“The risk of erroneous deprivation of benefits is increased in this case by the lack of adequate notice. The December notice did not inform the affected food stamp households of the exact action being taken, that is, whether their food stamp allotment was being reduced or terminated. There was no mention of the amount by which the benefits were being re- (continued) duced. And finally, the December notice lacked the information necessary to enable the household to determine if an error had been made. Therefore, without the relevant information to determine whether an error had been made, the risk of an erroneous deprivation is increased.” Id., at A. 90-A. 91. Title
“It is clear that the entitlement to food stamps benefits is a property interest subject to the full protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U. S. 254 (1970). Therefore, given the existence of a constitutionally protected property interest, the question is what process is due.” Id., at A. 86. “Each household must be notified in a timely manner usuаlly ten days prior to the time the agency‘s decision will take effect.” H. R. Rep. No. 95-464, p. 285 (1977); accord, S. Conf. Rep. No. 95-418, p. 197 (1977) (adopting House bill which requires “State agency notice of reduction or termination of [a household‘s] benefits“).
In a footnote, the Court states that “[b]y hypothesis, an inadvertent error is one that the Department did not anticipate; for that reason, the Department could not give notice of a reduction that was simply the consequence of an unintended mistake.” Ante, at 128, n. 30. In light of the Department‘s testimony and the Court‘s recognition that administrative errors are well known to occur in welfare programs, I can surmise only that the Court means that the Department did not anticipate which particular individuals would be erroneously affected, for the foreseeability of error against some portion of the class is clear and undisputed. See Brief for State Petitioner 60–61. The Court‘s further assertion that the Department “could not give notice of a reduction that was simply the consequence of an unintended mistake,” is simply misguided. The reductions per se were the consequence of Congress’ action, not the Department‘s, and they were certainly intеnded. The amount of the reductions was easily calculated, and notice could have been given. Only the Department‘s miscalculations were in any sense “unintended mistakes.” While notice that a particular error would be made was, perhaps, impossible, notice of the reduction was both possible and required, for the very reason that only the recipients could identify particular errors before they took effect.
“The State plan of operation . . . shall provide . . .
“(10) for the granting of a fair hearing and a prompt determination thereafter to any household aggrieved by the action of the State agency under any provision of its plan of operation as it affects the participation of such household in the food stamp program or by a claim against the household for an overissuance: Provided, That any household which timely requests such a fair hearing after receiving individual notice of agency action reducing or terminating its benefits within the household‘s certification period shall continue to participate and receive benefits on the basis authorized immediately prior to the notice of adverse action until such time as the fair hearing is completed and an adverse decision rendered or until such time as the household‘s certification period terminates, whichever occurs earlier . . . .” One need not indisputably prove error before constitutional protections may be invoked; only a foreseeable probability of error need be shown. See, e. g., Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U. S. 564, 577 (1972) (requiring a “legitimate claim of entitlement“) (emphasis added); Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U. S. 67, 86 (1972) (“Fourteenth Amendment‘s protection of ‘property’ has never been interpreted to safeguard only the rights of undisputed ownership“) (emphasis added).
More importantly, however, the likelihood of postdeprivation correction is largely irrelevant to the constitutional inquiry regarding notice. Cf. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 340 (1976) (postdeprivation process relevant to whether predeprivation evidentiary hearing is required); but see Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U. S. 532, 542 (1985) (“some form of pretermination hearing” is generally required). To paraphrase Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft, 436 U. S., at 20, “[a]lthough [food stamp benefits] may be restored ultimately, the cessation of essential [benefits] for any appreciable time works uniquely final deprivation,” and adequate notice therefore must precede the adverse action.
Moreover, present regulations protect the food-stamp household by providing, upon request, the ongoing right to access to information and materials in its case file.
“Procedural due process imposes constraints on governmental decisions which deprive individuals of ‘liberty’ or ‘property’ interests within the (continued) meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth or Fourteenth Amendment. The Secretary does not contend that procedural due process is inapplicable to terminations of Social Security disability benefits. He recognizes, as has been implicit in our prior decisions, e. g., Richardson v. Belcher, 404 U. S. 78, 80-81 (1971); Richardson v. Perales, 402 U. S. 389, 401-402 (1971); Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U. S. 603, 611 (1960), that the interest of an individual in continued receipt of these benefits is a statutorily created ‘property’ interest protected by the Fifth Amendment.” It is conceded that implementation of the 1981 law required the Department to make these determinations in each individual case. See, e. g., Brief for State Petitioner 65 (implementation “required a computer recalculation of each household‘s benefits“). I thus fail to understand the Court‘s suggestion that “[t]his, of course, would be a different case if the reductions were based on . . . individual factual determinations.” Ante, at 131, n. 35. The Court might intend to distinguish actions requiring simple mathematical determinations from application of laws requiring greater judgment or discretion on the part of administrators. But we have never before suggested that such a distinction might make a difference, nor does the Court provide any analytical justification for such a conclusion today. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U. S. 254, 268 (1970), clearly stated that the procedural protections of the Due Process Clause apply whenever the potential for erroneous decision based on “incorrect or misleading factual premises or . . . misapplication of rules or policies to the facts of particular cases” exists. Id., at 268. See also Yee-Litt v. Richardson, 353 F. Supp. 996 (ND Cal. 1973).