Opinion ID: 782210
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Choice of Intermediate Scrutiny in District Court

Text: 20 Plaintiffs press for heightened scrutiny on the grounds that the curfew ordinance, which employs an age-based classification, implicates a fundamental right. More specifically, plaintiffs argue that the curfew ordinance impinges on the exercise of the right to free movement and to travel freely within the state and within one's own community. Defendants — avoiding the question of how to define the relevant interest and conceding that minors may have a right to freedom of movement under some circumstances — focus instead on whether strict or intermediate scrutiny should be the standard applied to the curfew ordinance. The district court in its review used intermediate scrutiny and defendants do not take issue with that ruling on this appeal. 2 We have also concluded that intermediate scrutiny is the appropriate standard, though our reasons and conclusion differ from those of the district court. To explain how we reached this conclusion we turn to a discussion of the rights implicated by the Vernon ordinance and the class that is burdened.