People Ex Rel. McCoy v. Sherman

An Illinois statute requires that paternity actions be commenced during pregnancy or the child’s first two years of life; the major question in this appeal concerns the constitutionality of that time limit. The plaintiff, whose paternity action was dismissed because it had been filed more than two years after the birth of the child, argues that the two-year period of limitations violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. The appellate court, sitting in the first district, has found the two-year period unconstitutional. (Jude v.…