| Court: | US Supreme Court? |
| Facts: | Cleburne denies a special use permit for a group home for the mentally retarded. |
| Posture: | Court of Appeals said this wasn't a strict-scrutiny group. Appeal. |
| Issue: | Is this a violation of Equal Protection? |
| Holding: | Yes. |
| Rule: | We don't need strict scrutiny, but it's more than the lesser standard, because this is a quasi-suspect group. |
| Reasoning: | The retarded are politically powerless. If legislation distinguishes between the retarded and others, it must have a rational relationship to some government purpose. So first, why is the city requiring a special permit for this purpose, and not for frat houses, etc? There's no rational basis for this distinction. Private businesses can get away with this, but the law will not give their wishes effect. |
| Dicta: | |