In the case of Parham v. Hughes, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to Georgia's wrongful death statute which only allowed parents to sue for damages if they were married at the time of their child's death or had been married in the past. The plaintiff, Hughes, was an unwed father who sought damages after his son died due to medical malpractice but was denied by lower courts because he did not meet these requirements. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Georgia’s law and found that it did not violate equal protection rights under Fourteenth Amendment as claimed by Hughes. The majority opinion held that there is no constitutional requirement for states to remain neutral in situations where marital status plays a role and further argued that such laws could encourage familial stability.

In the dissenting opinion for Parham v. Hughes, Justice Brennan disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold Georgia's paternity law that denied unmarried fathers equal protection rights as mothers and married fathers. He argued that this law was discriminatory and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it treated different groups of parents differently based solely on their marital status. Justice Brennan believed there was no compelling state interest in treating unmarried fathers less favorably than other parents, especially when considering important matters such as parental rights or child welfare issues. Furthermore, he contended that using marriage as a determinant for parental rights could lead to unfair outcomes where unfit married parents are granted more legal protections than fit unmarried ones. In his view, all biological parents should have an equal opportunity to establish their parentage regardless of their marital status.