Opinion ID: 1630936
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Framework for Evaluating an Equal Protection Clause Challenge.

Text: Both the United States and Missouri constitutions guarantee to their citizens the enjoyment of equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, sec. 1 (No state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws) ; Mo. Const. art. I, sec. 2 (all persons . . . are entitled to equal rights and opportunity under the law). Courts undertake a two-part analysis to determine the constitutionality of a statute under either the state or federal equal protection clause. The first step is to determine whether the statute implicates a suspect class or impinges upon a fundamental right explicitly or implicitly protected by the Constitution. Etling v. Westport Heating & Cooling Sys., Inc., 92 S.W.3d 771, 744 (Mo. banc 2003); accord Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools, 487 U.S. 450, 457-58 (1988) . If so, the classification is subject to strict scrutiny. Etling, 92 S.W.3d at 774 . If not, the classification will be subject to rational basis scrutiny. Id. The second step is to apply the appropriate level of scrutiny to the challenged statute. In order to survive strict scrutiny, a limitation on a fundamental right must serve compelling state interests and must be narrowly tailored to meet those interests . Komosa v. Komosa, 939 S.W.2d 479, 482 (Mo. App. E.D. 1997) (Any state restriction which significantly interferes with the exercise of a fundamental right is subject to strict scrutiny and cannot be upheld unless it is supported by sufficiently important state interests and is closely tailored to effectuate only those interests.). See also Manifold v. Blunt, 863 F.2d 1368, 1373 (8th Cir. 1988) (The application of strict scrutiny for purposes of equal protection challenges . . . involves a two-part analysis: the restriction must be necessary to serve a compelling state interest, and may not go beyond what the state's interest actually requires.).