Judges: JIM MATTOX, Attorney General of Texas
Filed Date: 5/18/1983
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
Honorable Ed Emmett Chairman Committee on Cultural Historical Resources Texas House of Representatives P. O. Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78769
Re: Constitutionality of provisions in Senate bill No. 427 relating to race, creed, sex, religion, national origin, and geographical distribution of appointees to state commission
Dear Representative Emmett:
You have requested our opinion regarding the constitutionality of a portion of Senate Bill No. 427, presently pending in the Sixty-eighth Legislature. The bill provides, with respect to appointments to the State Library and Archives Commission:
Appointments to the Commission shall be made with due regard for the race, creed, sex, religion, national origin, and geographical distribution of the appointees.
Article
Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.
Article
No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.
In Mercer v. Board of Trustees, North Forest Independent School District,
reasonable, not arbitrary, and . . . rest[s] upon some ground of difference having a fair substantial relation to the object of the legislation.
is triggered either by laws which affect certain `fundamental rights' . . . or which provide for different treatment of persons on the basis of a `suspect classification' (such as race, alienage, and national origin).
Under the plain language of article
On the other hand, geographical distribution has not been held to be a suspect classification. See Hodel v. Indiana,
The author of the amendment has asked if the following language would be constitutional:
It is the intent of the legislature that the membership of the commission reflect the historical and cultural diversity of the inhabitants of this state; therefore, appointments to the Commission should be made without discrimination based on race, creed, sex, religion, national origin or geographical distribution of the appointees.
This language is distinguishable from the portion of Senate Bill No. 427 which we have discussed. The first sentence of the proposed language states a reasonable legislative purpose with respect to the composition of the State Library and Archives Commission. Moreover, this language does not in itself direct any official to engage in any action, constitutional or otherwise.
The second sentence requires that appointments to the commission be made on a non-discriminatory basis, and thus merely reiterates the requirements of article
Very truly yours,
Jim Mattox Attorney General of Texas
Tom Green First Assistant Attorney General
David R. Richards Executive Assistant Attorney General
Prepared by Rick Gilpin Assistant Attorney General
Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa , 99 S. Ct. 383 ( 1978 )
Schweiker v. Wilson , 101 S. Ct. 1074 ( 1981 )
Hodel v. Indiana , 101 S. Ct. 2376 ( 1981 )
Graham v. Richardson , 91 S. Ct. 1848 ( 1971 )
Reed v. Reed , 92 S. Ct. 251 ( 1971 )
Dunn v. Blumstein , 92 S. Ct. 995 ( 1972 )
Mercer v. Board of Trustees, North Forest Independent ... , 538 S.W.2d 201 ( 1976 )