Pedersen v. Burton
District Court, District of Columbia · 1975-08-13 · cited 4×
This case was a class action challenging two District of Columbia statutes, D.C. Code §§ 30-110 and 30-118, that required marriage license applicants to disclose their race or color under oath and made that information available for public inspection. Plaintiffs, who were denied licenses for refusing to provide the information, argued that the requirements created an unconstitutional classification that burdened the right to marry without justification under the Fifth Amendment's equal protection component. The three-judge court, ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, examined the statutes' history, implementation, and asserted purposes, noting that racial disclosure served no current governmental function in regulating marriage after the invalidation of anti-miscegenation laws. The court concluded that the provisions could not survive scrutiny under any applicable standard because the District of Columbia identified no compelling or even rational interest in maintaining them. It therefore invalidated the mandatory color disclosure and public access requirements to the extent they applied to race or color.
