Yick Wo v. Hopkins
E93770
Yick Wo v. Hopkins is an 1886 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racially discriminatory enforcement of a facially neutral law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
equal protection case ⓘ landmark civil rights case ⓘ |
| appliesTo | persons within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
civil rights law
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ equal protection jurisprudence ⓘ |
| citation |
118 U.S. 356
ⓘ
30 L. Ed. 220 ⓘ 6 S. Ct. 1064 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted |
Equal Protection Clause
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
surface form:
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
|
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| courtTerm | October Term 1885 ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1886-05-10 ⓘ |
| decisionType | unanimous decision ⓘ |
| defendant | Peter Hopkins ⓘ |
| factPattern |
Permits were systematically denied to Chinese applicants and granted to non-Chinese applicants
ⓘ
San Francisco required permits for operating laundries in wooden buildings ⓘ |
| fullCaseName | Yick Wo v. Hopkins self-link ⓘ |
| hasJurisdiction | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| holding |
Equal protection of the laws applies to all persons within the jurisdiction, not only to citizens
ⓘ
Racially discriminatory enforcement of a facially neutral law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ |
| involves |
Chinese immigrant laundry operators
ⓘ
municipal licensing ordinance ⓘ |
| jurisdictionLevel | federal ⓘ |
| languageOfOpinion | English ⓘ |
| legalIssue |
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
racial discrimination in enforcement of laws ⓘ |
| locationOfIncident | San Francisco, California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy |
Stanley Matthews
ⓘ
surface form:
Justice Stanley Matthews
|
| plaintiff | Yick Wo ⓘ |
| precedentFor |
cases challenging discriminatory application of neutral laws
ⓘ
cases involving equal protection rights of noncitizens ⓘ |
| principle |
A law fair on its face but administered with an evil eye and an unequal hand violates equal protection
ⓘ
Equal protection extends to noncitizens as well as citizens ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
discriminatory enforcement
ⓘ
facially neutral law ⓘ racial discrimination ⓘ selective prosecution ⓘ |
| significance |
Early recognition of discriminatory enforcement as unconstitutional
ⓘ
Foundational case for later equal protection and anti-discrimination jurisprudence ⓘ |
| subsequentCitationBy |
Brown v. Board of Education
ⓘ
Plyler v. Doe ⓘ Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. ⓘ Washington v. Davis ⓘ |
| vote | 9–0 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1886 ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.