Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas | |
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Argued February 19–20, 1974 Decided April 1, 1974 | |
Full case name | Village of Belle Terre, et al., v. Bruce Boraas, et al. |
Citations | 416 U.S. 1 ( more ) 94 S. Ct. 1536; 39 L. Ed. 2d 797; 6 ERC 1417 |
Case history | |
Prior | Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Boraas v. Village of Belle Terre, 476 F.2d 806 (2d Cir. 1973)) |
Holding | |
An ordinance restricting land use to “one-family” dwellings did not involve a procedural disparity, did not deprive any group of a fundamental right, and is rationally related to a permissible government objective. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Douglas, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist |
Dissent | Brennan |
Dissent | Marshall |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV |
Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1 (1974), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of a residential zoning ordinance in Belle Terre, New York, allowing a restrictive definition of family that prevented unrelated college students from residing in a single-family dwelling. [1]
The Village of Belle Terre is a village in Long Island, New York. The village only permitted one-family residencies. Six students studying at Stony Brook University rented a home in the village. None of them were related in any way, so their living situation violated the ordinance. The District Court found the ordinance constitutional. [2] The defendants moved out of the house during proceedings. [3]
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the ordinance was unconstitutional and violated the students' rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Constitutional Amendment. [4] This reversed the District Court's judgement.
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Village of Belle Terre and found that the ordinance was constitutional. [5]
William O. Douglas delivered the opinion of the court. The court stated that ordinance involved no procedural disparities or any deprivation of a fundamental right. [3] The court also decided that the tenants moving out during court proceedings was irrelevant.
A dissent was delivered by Thurgood Marshall. He believed that the ordinance violated the First Amendment rights to freedom of association. [2]
Another dissent was delivered by William J. Brennan Jr. based on the fact that the tenants had moved out and therefore had no cognizable case.
Moore v. East Cleveland , 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
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