Plyler v. Doe

Appellants

J. and R. Doe; certain named and unnamed undocumented alien children, et al.

Appellees

James L. Plyler, et al.

Appellants' Claim

That schools admitting children who could not establish that they had come into the United States legally should still receive state funding.

Chief Lawyer for Appellants

Peter D. Roos for J. and R. Doe et al., Peter A. Schey for certain named and unnamed undocumented alien children et al.

Chief Lawyer for Apellees

John C. Hardy for James L. Plyler et al.; Richard L. Arnett for State of Texas, et al.

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens

Justices Dissenting

Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

15 June 1982

Decision

That the Texas law which withheld funds from local school districts for educating children not legally admitted into the United States and the authorization of these districts to deny these children enrollment, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Sources

Heward, William L. Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill, 1996.