Opinion ID: 1168260
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: the equal protection clause and the washington privileges and immunities clause

Text: The equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution provides: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The privileges and immunities clause of the Washington State Constitution (article 1, section 12) provides: No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens, or corporations. [7] The privileges and immunities clause of the Washington State Constitution (article 1, section 12) and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment are substantially identical and have been considered by this court as one issue. Texas Co. v. Cohn, 8 Wn.2d 360, 374, 112 P.2d 522 (1941). Accord, Olsen v. Delmore, 48 Wn.2d 545, 550, 295 P.2d 324 (1956); Equitable Shipyards, Inc. v. State, 93 Wn.2d 465, 476, 611 P.2d 396 (1980). Accordingly, we consider the state and federal constitutional issues in this case as one equal protection issue. [8] This court has held that in reviewing a challenge to legislation under the equal protection clause, where the classification neither involves suspect criteria (race, religion, national origin, alienage, gender) [5] nor affects fundamental interests ( e.g., free speech, privacy, voting rights), the court will engage in only minimum scrutiny of the enactment, Paulson v. County of Pierce, 99 Wn.2d 645, 652, 664 P.2d 1202 (citing McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425-26, 6 L.Ed.2d 393, 81 S.Ct. 1101 (1961); Nielsen v. Washington State Bar Ass'n, 90 Wn.2d 818, 820, 585 P.2d 1191 (1978)), appeal dismissed, 464 U.S. 957, 78 L.Ed.2d 331, 104 S.Ct. 386 (1983), and the challenger bears a heavy burden to show there is no rational basis for the classification. Paulson, at 653 (citing Yakima Cy. Deputy Sheriff's Ass'n v. Board of Comm'rs, 92 Wn.2d 831, 836, 601 P.2d 936 (1979), appeal dismissed, 446 U.S. 979 (1980)). See also Convention Ctr. Coalition v. Seattle, 107 Wn.2d 370, 378, 730 P.2d 636 (1986). In Paulson, this court also ruled that under the minimum scrutiny test, the classification need only (1) apply alike to all members within the designated class; (2) be based on reasonable distinctions between those within and those outside the class; and (3) bear a rational relationship to the purpose of the legislation. Paulson, 99 Wn.2d at 653. Accord, Grader v. Lynnwood, 45 Wn. App. 876, 881, 728 P.2d 1057 (1986); State v. Ham, 39 Wn. App. 7, 9, 691 P.2d 239 (1984). [9] The appropriate equal protection test for a purely economic regulation is the minimum scrutiny or rational basis test. Myrick v. Board of Pierce Cy. Comm'rs, 102 Wn.2d 698, 701, 677 P.2d 140, 687 P.2d 1152 (1984), citing Equitable Shipyards, Inc. v. State, 93 Wn.2d 465, 611 P.2d 396 (1980). Under this test, we have consistently held that economic and business regulations carry a strong presumption of constitutionality. See also Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U.S. 61, 78-79, 55 L.Ed. 369, 377, 31 S.Ct. 337, 340 (1911); Salstrom's Vehicles, Inc. v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 87 Wn.2d 686, 690-91, 555 P.2d 1361 (1976); Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Washington Life & Disab. Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 83 Wn.2d 523, 528, 520 P.2d 162 (1974); Note, Developments in the Law  Equal Protection, 82 Harv. L. Rev. 1065, 1083 (1969). Under the equal protection clause, a state's statutory classifications need only bear a rational relationship to a legitimate state interest. See United States R.R. Retirement Bd. v. Fritz, 449 U.S. 166, 174-76, 66 L.Ed.2d 368, 101 S.Ct. 453, reh'g denied, 450 U.S. 960 (1980); Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485, 25 L.Ed.2d 491, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1161 (1970); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 426, 6 L.Ed.2d 393, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 1105 (1961); Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc., 348 U.S. 483, 99 L.Ed. 563, 75 S.Ct. 461 (1955); Rivera v. Becerra, 714 F.2d 887 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1099 (1984); Conklin v. Shinpoch, 107 Wn.2d 410, 417, 418, 730 P.2d 643 (1986). Accord, Hoffman v. United States, 767 F.2d 1431, 1437 n. 7 (9th Cir.1985). This court has expressly held that judicial deference is particularly necessary when the legislation in question relates to purely business and economic activity. Yakima Cy. Deputy Sheriff's Ass'n v. Board of Comm'rs, supra . See Conklin v. Shinpoch, supra at 417; Lenci v. Seattle, 63 Wn.2d 664, 668, 388 P.2d 926 (1964). In equal protection cases, a particularly heavy presumption of constitutionality applies when the statute concerns economic matters. See Yakima Cy. Deputy Sheriff's Ass'n, 92 Wn.2d at 844 (Utter, C.J., concurring). The trial court in this case imposed a stricter standard than necessary for equal protection analysis of an economic regulation. The court ruled that the security deposit rule was discriminatory in the absence of an explicit showing and a definitive determination of necessity for the stringent requirement imposed upon the [ITC's]. The court incorrectly placed upon the Commission the burden of providing an explicit showing and definitive determination of necessity for the rule. This strict scrutiny burden would be appropriate for state action involving suspect classifications and fundamental rights. It is inappropriate under the rational basis test for state economic legislation not involving those classifications or rights. The trial court erred in requiring an explicit showing and definitive determination rather than requiring an assumption of every state of facts sufficient to sustain a classification which reasonably can be conceived under our decisions on equal protection issues utilizing the rational basis test. See Yakima Cy. Deputy Sheriff's Ass'n v. Board of Comm'rs, supra ; Haberman v. WPPSS, 109 Wn.2d 107, 744 P.2d 1032, 750 P.2d 254 (1987); Convention Ctr. Coalition v. Seattle, 107 Wn.2d 370, 730 P.2d 636 (1986); State ex rel. Graham v. San Juan Cy., 102 Wn.2d 311, 686 P.2d 1073 (1984).