Home › Case briefs › Constitutional Law

Ambach v. Norwick

Supreme Court of the United States · 1979 · Constitutional Law

Constitutional LawEqual ProtectionAlienage classificationsPublic employmentEducationEqual Protection Clausealienagecitizenship requirement

Facts

New York Education Law § 3001(3) barred certification as a public school teacher for any person who was not a United States citizen unless that person had manifested an intention to apply for citizenship, with regulatory exceptions for aliens not yet eligible for citizenship. Appellees Norwick and Dachinger were resident aliens married to United States citizens who met New York's educational requirements for teacher certification but refused to seek citizenship despite being eligible to do so. Their applications for certification to teach nursery school through sixth grade were denied solely because they did not satisfy § 3001(3). Because certification was required to work in New York public elementary or secondary schools, they sued to enjoin enforcement of the statute.

Issue

May a State, consistently with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, refuse to employ as elementary and secondary public school teachers aliens who are eligible for United States citizenship but refuse to seek naturalization? More specifically, does public school teaching fall within the governmental function exception so that a citizenship requirement is reviewed only for rationality?

Rule

Although alienage classifications ordinarily are inherently suspect, a State may impose a citizenship requirement for positions that fall within the governmental function principle—positions bound up with the operation of the State as a governmental entity and involving participation in the process of self-government. Public elementary and secondary school teachers perform such a governmental function, so a citizenship requirement for those positions need only bear a rational relationship to a legitimate state interest.

🔒

See the holding & full analysis

Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.

The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case

Free sample · practice this case

Test yourself

One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Ohio requires all public elementary school teachers to be United States citizens unless they have filed papers showing an intent to seek naturalization. The state education department may grant temporary exceptions to lawful permanent residents who are not yet eligible for citizenship. Elena Markovic, a permanent resident in Cleveland who is eligible to naturalize but refuses to apply, is denied certification to teach fourth grade in a public school.

If Elena brings an Equal Protection challenge, which is the strongest analysis?

Explanation. The majority held that public elementary and secondary school teachers perform a governmental function bound up with self-government. Because of public education's role in preparing citizens and teachers' daily influence, discretion, and role-model function, a citizenship requirement for those positions is reviewed under rational basis, not strict scrutiny. A State may rationally exclude aliens who are eligible for citizenship but refuse to seek it.