Background Facts
Suffolk County is a rich suburb of a large city, called Big City. The county’s population has been mostly
white throughout its history. Over the last several decades, the population of people of color in the
surrounding area has grown substantially due to a large influx of Latino immigrants. In addition, many
African American families who used to live in Big City have moved away from the city and into the
neighboring suburbs because the cost of living in the city, including rent, has risen substantially. Historically,
Suffolk County maintained a zoning law that prohibited building multi-unit houses or apartment buildings in
the County. This has meant that most housing in Suffolk County consists of large single family homes,
which are too expensive for most immigrant families or families of color seeking to move out of Big City.
The zoning laws say nothing explicitly about race or ethnicity of residents.
Facing criticism from housing advocates, Suffolk County changed the zoning law so that large apartment
complexes are allowed to be built but only in one town within the county, called Suffolk City. Everywhere
else in the county, the zoning laws continued to prohibit apartment buildings. In explaining why the zoning
change was limited to one city, County officials stated that they wished to “preserve the character of the
neighborhoods and schools in the rest of Suffolk County.” As a result, most immigrant and African
American families moving into the county settled in Suffolk City where large apartment buildings make
housing costs lower. The population of Suffolk City consists mostly of racial minorities, while the rest of the
county continues to be predominantly white. Reflecting this residential segregation, Suffolk County schools
are highly segregated by race. White students make up only 10% of the student body in Suffolk City
schools. In schools in the rest of the county, white students make up over 80% of the student body.
Students in Suffolk City perform significantly worse than students in other parts of the county on
standardized tests.
The Government Action
Suffolk County Board of Supervisors would like the county’s schools to be more racially integrated. At
public hearings on this issue, the Board hears testimony from educational experts that students perform
significantly better in racially-integrated schools, and that this is true of both minority and white students.
The Board also hears testimony from housing experts that the racial segregation in residential housing in
the county is a direct result of the county’s zoning policies. Having heard this evidence, the Board of
Supervisors decides to create a program of mandatory busing, where 50 percent of the minority students in
Suffolk City are bused to other, predominantly white schools, and randomly-chosen white students in
predominantly-white schools are bused to Suffolk City schools.
The Lawsuit & Your Task
Parents of a white student who has been randomly selected to be bused to a school in Suffolk City file a
lawsuit, claiming that the county’s busing program violates the student’s rights under the Equal Protection
Clause.
Does the student have a good case? Support your conclusion with the relevant facts stated above and
what you have learned about the Equal Protection Clause. Be sure to include the following in your answer:
(1) What is the classification and the applicable standard of review?
(2) Under that standard, what must the County show in order to justify the program?
(3) Based on the facts described above, can the County make such a showing?
(4) Why or why not? (If you need additional facts to make your decision, state what they are)