A new ordinance limits habitation on certain streets to ethnic minorities to preserve culture and heritage. Little Italy, Chinatown, little India, etc., can only have residents of the predominant ethnicity. Jillian wishes to move to Chinatown to be close to her favorite restaurants but the ordinance prohibits this. If challenged as an equal protection violation, which standard is appropriate?
A) The ordinance is presumed valid so long as it is rationally related to a constitutionally permissible state interest.
B) The ordinance must be substantially related to an important government objective.
C) The ordinance must be strictly necessary and there must be no alternative approach to advancing a compelling state interest.
D) The ordinance must be logically related to a historic interest beyond a reasonable doubt.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ordinance discriminates based on ethnicity, which is a suspect classification under equal protection analysis. Therefore, the strict scrutiny standard applies, requiring the law to be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest, making choice C correct.

A New Ordinance Limits Habitation on Certain Streets to Ethnic