Introduction
When the Founding Fathers created the Constitution, they were concerned about the citizens and how they would be treated by the government. They did not want the treatment thatwas experienced in England to be repeated or for there to be any way that the governmentbecame too powerful over the people. To ensure fair criminal and civil proceedings would befairly carried out, they created the 5thand 14thAmendments to the Constitution that guaranteesfair treatment in the process of the law and the fairness of created laws as they pertains to theright of life, liberty and property (Harr, Hess, Orthmann & Kingsbury, 2018). Procedural DueProcess and Substantive Due Process are the procedures that are in place to protect citizensinvolved in criminal or civil proceedings. Sometimes things happen and there are proceedingsthat do not go as planned. One such proceeding is the case ofMathews v. Eldridge. This paperwill summarize the case, summarize the test used to determine whether there was due processunder the Constitution and to assert whether the test provided sufficient guidelines for a court todetermine if procedural due process was properly provided.
TheMathews v. EldridgeCase
The Mathews v. Eldridge case came about because of a review of disability benefitsreceived by Mr. George Eldridge. He was receiving Social Security disability benefits because ofhis inability to work; the benefits began in June of 1968. A state agency that was tasked withmonitoring benefits sent Mr. Eldridge a questionnaire which he filled out and returned. Theagency attained records from Mr. Eldridge’s doctor and from an independent medical consultant,