Moore v. East Cleveland

The decision by the Supreme Court that the East Cleveland housing ordinance violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution called the definition of family under strict scrutiny. The Court was required to examine what elements made up a family and whether an extended family had the same rights of protection afforded to nuclear families. It was determined in Moore v. East Cleveland that a family regardless of its categories of relations was protected by the right to privacy, the right to due process, and the right to equal protection. A state or local government did not have the right to arbitrarily define what elements could make up a family unless the definition directly supported the objectives of public health, safety, and general welfare of the community.