argue that the Chancery Court's decision was unsupported by the evidence or lack thereof. The fees the Court charged her for the record preparations was too high for the petitioner to pay and, determined to keep her parental rights, she asked for in forma pauperis. When she went to the Mississippi Supreme Court, M.L.B.'s motions were denied, but on April 1, 1996, the US Supreme Court] agreed to hear the petitioner's case through writ of certiorari. M.L.B. went into the case, ready to back her stance through the Fourteenth Amendment. In section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, it is stated, "No state shall... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." When making its decision, the Supreme Court also took into account many cases that were related to issues with the Fourteenth Amendment. It looked at Griffin v. Illinois, which i decided that if an appeal was granted, the indigent defendants must be granted the same level of appellate review as defendants who could afford every record or transcript. It also considered Mayer v. Chicago in which a destitute criminal's right to appeal was upheld again. The case came while the need for such changes in the law was growing. The court also took into account cases in which the family was involved. Lassiter v. Department of Social Services of Durham Cty, 452 U.S. 18, which stated that indigent defendants in a parental termination case are not required by the Constitution to be provided with counsel, but they should be determined by the circumstances. In the 1990s, the divorce rate was almost 50%. In 1993, the year of the original case, the poverty rate was at 15.1%, with 39.3 million people living under the official poverty level. Although the window this case opened for in forma pauperis in civil cases was narrow, it was also highly necessary. Issue When M.L.B. was unable to appeal because of her financial difficulties, she felt that at least in forma pauperis should apply. It did not apply to parenthood, which was not a criminal case. The conflict then arose of whether or not the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution allowed a state to condition appeals made by indigent persons if a court decreed a termination of parental rights. The court was reluctant to extend in