Stanton v. Stanton

Appellant

Thelma B. Stanton

Appellee

James Lawrence Stanton, Jr.

Appellant's Claim

That a Utah statute was discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional because it set the age of majority for females at 18 and males at 21, thus denying due process and equal protection as guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

J. Dennis Frederick

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Bryce E. Roe

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger, William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

15 April 1975

Decision

That the basis for the statute's establishment of different ages of majority was not rational, and that it denied women equal protection under the law.

Related Cases

• Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415 (1920).
• Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971).
• Schlesinger v. Ballard, 419 U.S. 498 (1975).
• Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 (1976).
• Stanton v. Stanton II, 429 U.S. 501 (1977).
• University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).

Sources

Fast, Julius, and Timothy Fast. The Legal Atlas of the United States. New York: Facts on File, 1997.