Shavonna Lobrie
Case Brief Craig v. Boren
Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
Case History:
In 1972, the state of Oklahoma passed a statute denying the sale of “non-intoxicating” beer to men under the age of 18, and women under the age of 21. Curtis Craig a male age 18 at the time, was the Appellant, and claimed that this law, constituted a gender-based discrimination that violated his 14th amendment constitutional right of equal protection of the law .
The Appellee was David Boren Governor of Oklahoma. The state argued it was enacted due to a matter of safety concerning driving. Armed with statistics proving a larger number of men were arrested for drunk driving then women were, along with a larger fatality rate of automobile accidents involving intoxicated males drivers (2%), than those of women (.18%).
Using the precedence set by the Reed v. Reed case in 1971 that classification by gender must substantially further important governmental objectives, A three judge district court found in favor of the objections, and…show more content… It was found at Supreme Court, that while the state provided evidence displaying proof that young males were more often dangerous drinkers concerning traffic safety, it did not constitute the grounds for different treatment. It was stipulated that “the Twenty-first Amendment does not alter the application of equal protection standards that otherwise govern this case. The Court has never recognized that application of that Amendment can defeat an otherwise established claim under the Equal Protection Clause, the principles of which cannot be rendered inapplicable here by reliance upon statistically measured but loose-fitting generalities concerning the drinking tendencies of aggregate groups.” Therefore, the classification was not substantially related to the achievement of a legitimate government
