Membership and Inclusion: Rodriguez v. San Antonio Sch. Dist.

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Membership and Inclusion Rodriguez v. San
Antonio Sch. Dist.

• Professor Garcia
• Office Hour 2-3 today
• Rjgarcia_at_ucsd.edu
• Monday Rodriguez (Marshall Dissent Optional)
• Wednesday Plyler Cleburne Dissent
• Friday Boumedienne

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US v. VA Scalia, J. Dissenting Reader P. 287

• The Court is implicitly making the standard
  strict, such as in applying the least
  restrictive means test from race cases.
• Women are not a discrete and insular minority.
• The court has inscribed one after another of the
  current preferences of the society . . Into our
  Basic Law. The Constitution of the United
  Statesthe old onetakes no sides in this
  educational debate . . . .

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Similarly Situated?

• Males and Females with regard to social security
  benefits? No. Califano (1979) Reader p. 289
• Male and females with regard to statutory rape?
  No. Michael M. (1981). Reader 290.
• Males and females being required to sign up for
  selective service? No. Rostker (1981). Reader p.
  289.

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History of Mexican-American Civil Rights
Litigation

• Lemon Grove Incident (1930) (San Diego county
  trial on desegregation of schools)
• Mendez v. Westminster (9th Circuit Court of
  Appeals, 1948 case striking down segregation of
  Mexicans from O.C. schools)
• Hernandez v. Texas (1954) (Mexican-Americans
  cannot be excluded from juries)
• Serrano v. Priest (1971) (Cal. Supreme Court,
  holding that under the Cal. Const., education is
  fundamental right)

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Rodriguez Prelude to the Litigation

• Demetrio Rodriguez was born in Texas, like his
  father and grandfather, but his mother was from
  Mexico. He served in World War II, and by 1968,
  3 of his 4 sons attended Edgewood Elementary
  School. Rodriguez helped form the Concerned
  Parents Association, small, but a part of a
  larger movement in the Southwest including GI
  Forum (1948) and LULAC (1929)

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Rodriguez v. San Antonio School Dist. (1973).

• The Edgewood School District in San Antonio was
  90 Mexican-American and 6 Negro. Alamo, by
  contrast had 18 Mexican American and lt1 Negro.
  Alamo is the most affluent district and
  Edgewood is among the lowest median income. In
  terms of local funds, in 1967-68, Alamo got 333
  per pupil Edgewood 26.

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Rodriguez Proceedings Below

• A three judge panel in Texas found the Texas
  school finance system unconstitutional. Texas
  agrees that the system would not be upheld under
  strict scrutiny. Texas argues, however, that the
  system is rationally related to a legitimate
  government interestlocal control and
  administrative convenience.

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Questions Presented

• Is wealth a suspect classification under the
  Equal Protection Clause?
• Is education a fundamental right in the federal
  constitution?
• What level of scrutiny should be applied to the
  Texas school finance system?
• If the system fails scrutiny, what should the
  remedy be?