''Bernal v. Fainter'', 467 U.S. 216 (1984), is a case in which the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled that the

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...

prohibited the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from barring noncitizens from applying for commission as a notary public.

Background

A native of Mexico applied to be a notary public in Texas. Citing a Texas law that required notaries public to be citizens of the United States, Texas' Secretary of State denied the application. After losing an administrative appeal, the applicant filed a lawsuit in federal court. The trial court ruled in favor of the applicant and found that under the Equal Protection Clause of the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Often considered as one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and ...

, Texas' citizenship requirement did not pass either

strict scrutiny In U.S. constitutional law, when a law infringes upon a fundamental constitutional right, the court may apply the strict scrutiny standard. Strict scrutiny holds the challenged law as presumptively invalid unless the government can demonstrate th ...

rational basis review In U.S. constitutional law, rational basis review is the normal standard of review that courts apply when considering constitutional questions, including due process or equal protection questions under the Fifth Amendment or Fourteenth Amendment ...

. The

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

reversed, holding that the rational basis test was the proper standard of review and that under this standard, the citizenship requirement "bears a rational relationship to the state's interest in the proper and orderly handling of a countless variety of legal documents of importance to the state."

Opinion of the Court

Citing '' Graham v. Richardson'', the Supreme Court recognized that legal aliens are a suspect class, and therefore any law applying to legal aliens as a class is subject to strict scrutiny. The Court also recognized a "political function" exception that subjects alienage classification laws to a lower standard of review for "positions intimately related to the process of democratic self-governance." However, the Court held that since the requirements of being a notary are essentially ministerial (that is, without judgment or discretion, either the person fits the statutory requirement to have a document authenticated or they do not), and the only real requirement of a notary was to follow the law, being a notary does not have any special character of citizenship that would require one to necessarily be a

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

. The Court noted that this is unlike the role played by other individuals in who work in judicial systems, such as judges or

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

, where a locality may require police officers to be citizens because they act on behalf of the state and have considerable discretion in how the law is enforced. Consequently, the Supreme Court struck down the Texas law that required a notary to be a citizen. The Court also noted in ''

dictum In general usage, a dictum ( in Latin; plural dicta) is an authoritative or dogmatic statement. In some contexts, such as legal writing and church cantata librettos, ''dictum'' can have a specific meaning. Legal writing In United States legal ter ...

'' that notary commissions are issued by the

Texas Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas S ...

, who is not required to be a citizen despite holding the "highest appointive position" in Texas.

Dissenting opinion

Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

wrote a one-sentence dissenting opinion stating: "I dissent for the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in '' Sugarman v. Dougall''." In ''Sugarman'', Justice Rehnquist argued that alienage is not a suspect classification. (Rehnquist, J., dissenting).

References

External links

* {{US14thAmendment 1984 in United States case law United States equal protection case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court

Background

Opinion of the Court

Dissenting opinion

See also

References

External links