Plyler v. Doe (1982)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 2:38PM Read the opinion here.
Issue. Is a local town ordinance that excluded undocumented children from Texas's public school unless they paid a full tuition fee, violate the Equal Protection Clause?
Background. A class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of undocumented children who could not be enrolled in certain Texas public schools unless they paid a "full tuition fee." Lower federal courts ruled that exclusion of undocumented children violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court agreed.
Court's Analysis. Even though undocumented aliens are not a suspect class and a free public education is not a fundamental right, the Supreme Court found that the State still had to come up with a justification that showed its law furthers some substantial interest. The State failed to do so in this case.
While undocumented aliens may constitute an underclass in the United States, it does not mean the government cannot refuse to extend benefits to this underclass. Still, children are special members of this underclass. They did not illegally enter this country under their own free will. The same is true about their remaining in the United States. There is no rational reason why they should be denied a benefit that is provided to the children of citizens who are legally here.
Denying the children of undocumented alied access to free public education further punishes them and creates the likelihood of a lifetime of hardship on a discrete class of children because of the actions of their parents. The Equal Protection Clause will not allow for this. As the Court recognized:
[The law] is directed against children, and imposes its discriminatory burden on the basis of a legal characteristic over which children can have little control. It is thus difficult to conceive of a rational justification for penalizing their children for their presence within the United States.