City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center

Week 11 — Equal Protection — Rational Basis (with Bite)

Facts

  • Cleburne, Texas, refused to issue a special building permit to a facility for people with intellectual disabilities.
  • The city claimed the permit was denied to protect the patients from harassment from a neighboring school, and offered other proffered justifications based on traffic and infrastructure density.
  • The city had approved permits for almost every other class of applicant—fraternities, nursing homes, boarding houses, etc.

Issue

Whether the city's denial of the special-use permit was rationally related to a legitimate government interest under the Equal Protection Clause.

Holding

No. The denial violated the EPC under rational basis with bite.

Reasoning

  • A government action motivated by irrational prejudice toward a certain classification will not be upheld under rational basis with bite.
  • The city's claimed interest—protecting the patients from neighbors—did not constitute a legitimate government interest.
  • The traffic and infrastructure justifications were pretext: the city had approved permits for nearly every other class of applicant.

Notes

  • Courts may use under-inclusiveness as evidence of animus under rational basis with bite.
  • Cleburne sits alongside Romer v. Evans and USDA v. Moreno as a leading rational-basis-with-bite case.