Opinion ID: 612111
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count III: Equal Protection

Text: 30 In Count III, Appellees claim that the restrictions on Chester denied her, and through her the ACLU, equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court found that WCDC's disputed motive precluded summary judgment, in this case because it affected whether WCDC could demonstrate a compelling state interest served by the alleged impairment of fundamental First Amendment rights. 31 The Equal Protection Clause mandates that similarly situated persons be treated similarly by the government. The WCDC warden made a special accommodation for Chester in March, 1990 and withdrawal of that accommodation necessarily affected her alone. Far from supporting a claim under the Equal Protection Clause, removal of the special accommodation merely returned Chester to the status occupied by other prospective paralegal visitors. In Phillips v. Bureau of Prisons, the D.C. Circuit cautioned that a prison authority might not, consistent with the Constitution conspicuously foreclose to particular individuals opportunities it has previously and independently created generally for others. 591 F.2d at 970. Appellees have failed to show such a foreclosure of opportunities in this case and, consequently, have failed to establish an equal protection violation. Appellants, in their individual capacities, are entitled to qualified immunity and all Appellants are entitled to dismissal of Count III for failure to state a claim.