Graham v. Richardson

Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365 (1971), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court determined that state restrictions on welfare benefits for legal aliens but not for citizens violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court invalidated an Arizona law that required citizenship or 15 years of residence to receive welfare benefits. The 9–0 decision was written by Harry A. Blackmun.

Graham v. Richardson
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 22, 1971 Decided June 14, 1971
Full case name	Graham, Commissioner, Department of Public Welfare of Arizona v. Richardson, et al.
Citations	403 U.S. 365 (more) 91 S. Ct. 1848; 29 L. Ed. 2d 534; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 28
Holding
Resident aliens are a suspect class because they are a "discrete and insular minority" as well as politically powerless. Laws discriminating against resident aliens must therefore be held to a strict scrutiny standard.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Blackmun, joined by Burger, Black, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall
Concurrence	Harlan (in judgment and in parts III, IV)

The state argued that rational basis review should apply, which would require the non-citizen to prove that the law served no conceivable legitimate state interest, or alternatively that the law was not rationally related to the government's purpose. However, the court applied the strict scrutiny standard, holding, "Aliens as a class are a prime example of a 'discrete and insular' minority for whom such heightened judicial solicitude is appropriate."

External links

• Text of Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365 (1971) is available from: Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)