Plyler v. Doe (1981)
- Docket
- 80-1538
- Decided
- 1981-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the law violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Conclusion: Yes. The Court reasoned that illegal aliens and their children, though not citizens of the United States or Texas, are people "in any ordinary sense of the term" and, therefore, are afforded Fourteenth Amendment protections. Since the state law severely disadvantaged the children of illegal aliens, by denying them the right to an education, and because Texas could not prove that the regulation was needed to serve a "compelling state interest," the Court struck down the law.