Martinez v. Bynum
United States Supreme Court
461 U.S. 321, 103 S. Ct. 1838, 75 L. Ed. 2d 879 (1983)
- Written by Galina Abdel Aziz , JD
Facts
Roberto Morales was born in McAllen, Texas, in 1969. Morales’s parents were Mexican citizens who resided in Mexico. In 1977, Morales left Mexico and returned to the United States to live with Oralia Martinez (plaintiff), Morales’s sister, for the primary purpose of attending school in the McAllen Independent School District (school district). Martinez was not, and did not wish to become, Morales’s guardian, but Martinez was Morales’s custodian. The school district denied Morales’s application for admission because § 21.031(d) of the Texas Education Code (education code) denied tuition-free admission to minors who lived apart from their parent or legal guardian if the minor’s presence in the school district was for the primary purpose of attending a public school. Martinez and four other custodians of school-age children sued the state in a federal district court, alleging that § 21.031(d) of the education code violated the Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Powell, J.)
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