1. Foley v. Connelie, (1978)
2. Facts: New York had a law barring aliens from becoming state troopers.
3. Issue: Whether the law barring aliens from becoming state troopers was a violation of equal protection.
4. Holding: No.
5. Reasoning: Dougall carved out an exception to the strict scrutiny for alienage-based state classifications - i.e., where the power the state is exercising is clearly within its “governmental function” or “political function.” Otherwise, there would be no benefit to citizenship. Thus, in these cases, rational relationship is the appropriate standard. Since police officers exercise a very broad discretion in enforcement of laws, it would be as anomolous to say that a citizen could be exposed to the broad discretion of a non-citzen police officer as it would be to say that judges and juries can be made up of aliens. Thus, citizenship bears a rational relationship to law enforcement.
6. Notes: In Amach v. Norwick, the court applied the Dougall exception and Foley to hold that a state may refuse to employ teachers who are eligible for naturalization, but refuse it, stating that less demanding scrutiny is required where aliens are excluded from “state functions” that were part of the state’s “governmental function.”
