Case 3:17-cv-00739-TJC-JBT Document 192 Filed 07/26/18 Page 34 of 70 PageID 10712
disagrees and even if the legislature refuses to act.” Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 2605 (2015).
- A. Equal Protection Clause Claim
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that no State may “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Accordingly, the St. Johns County School Board, a political subdivision of the State of Florida,[1] must “treat all persons similarly situated alike or, conversely, [must] avoid all classifications that are ‘arbitrary or irrational’ and those that reflect ‘a bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group.’” Glenn v. Brumby, 663 F.3d 1312, 1315 (11th Cir. 2011) (quoting City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 446-47 (1985)). Generally, state action will be upheld “if it is rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose.” Id. However, classifications based on “sex or gender” are subject to intermediate scrutiny. Id. at 1315–17; see also Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1 Bd. of Educ., 858
- ↑ See Fla. Const. art. IX, § 4 (establishing governance of Florida’s public education system in each county by elected members of district school boards); Fla. Stat. 1.01(8) (defining political subdivision to include “all other districts in this state”); Fla. Stat. § 120.52(1)(a) and (6) (defining state agency to include local school districts); Fla. Stat. Title XLVIII (Florida’s K–20 Education Code, Ch. 1000-1013); NLRB v. Nat. Gas Util. Dist. of Hawkins Cty., 402 U.S. 600, 604–05 (1971) (explaining that an entity is a “political subdivision” under federal law if it is either “(1) created directly by the state, so as to constitute departments or administrative arms of the government, or (2) administered by individuals who are responsible to public officials or to the general electorate”).
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