Equality and the Constitution Flashcards
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown tells us that established social norms are no longer the standard of reasonableness.
Can no longer have de jure segregation
Rational Basis Review
- The Classification or means used by the law. Is this classification suspect? (a racial one)
- Is the purpose or end legitimate or permissible?
- What is the fit between the means used and the purpose stated?
Is color-blindness the rule after Brown v. Board?
No. There might be segregation that does not stigmatize (Prison)
New York Transit Authority v. Beazer
Rule
State legislation does not violate the Equal Protection Clause merely because the classifications that it makes are imperfect.
New York Transit Authority v. Beazer
Facts
A New York City Transit Authority rule barred the employment of persons who use narcotics. The Transit Authority applied the rule to all persons taking methadone – a drug widely used in the treatment of heroine addiction.
U.S. Department of Agriculture v. Moreno
Facts
An amendment to the Food Stamp Act prevented households made up of unrelated individuals from participating in the program. A class action suit was brought, and the District Court found a Due Process violation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture v. Moreno
Rule
Discrimination against a politically unpopular group is not a constitutionally permissible government interest. This will fail the rational basis test.
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center
Facts
The City of Cleburne denied a special use permit to the Cleburne Living Center, for the establishment of a group home for the mentally retarded in the community.
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center
Rule
Legislation that distinguishes between the mentally retarded and others must be rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose.
Romer v. Evans
Facts
Colorado voters adopted Amendment two to their State Constitution, precluding the government from adopting measures that would protect homosexuals from discrimination.
Romer v. Evans
Rule
A bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest.
Is a legislature required to show a clear empirical relationship between a means and an end?
No
- Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co.
What if the means undermine the end?
The court says that it will presume the stated purpose is the real purpose.
It will even imagine a rational relationship if the legislature does not include one.
Railway Express Agency v. New York
Facts
The Appellant argued that a statute prohibiting advertising on vehicles, except for notices upon business delivery vehicles engaged in the regular work of the owner, are unconstitutional for violating the Equal Protection Clause.
Railway Express Agency v. New York
Rule
It is no requirement of equal protection that all evils of the same genus be eradicated or none at all.
Williamson v. Lee Optical
Facts
An Oklahoma law prohibited any person that is not a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist from fitting lenses to a face or to duplicate or replace into frames lenses or other optical appliances.
Williamson v. Lee Optical
Rule
In the absence of a rationale the Court imagines one as long as there is a conceivable relationship.
Strauder v. West Virginia
Facts
A West Virginia statute limited jury service to white men. Strauder, a black man, was convicted of murder by a trial court in West Virginia.
Strauder v. West Virginia
Rule
The law violated the Equal Protection Clause, because it implied that blacks were unfit to serve on juries.
Korematsu v. United States
Facts
During World War II, a military commander ordered all persons of Japanese descent to evacuate the West Coast. Korematsu, a United States citizen of Japanese descent, was convicted for failing to comply with the order.
