Who can share a home
French v. City of Shawnee
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Val French asked the Supreme Court to review whether a Shawnee ordinance restricting who may share a home based on family relationships violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
- Who it affects
- The order ended French’s request for Supreme Court review but did not resolve whether Shawnee’s ordinance violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The Court refused to hear the case (denied review) and did not decide those constitutional questions.
The petition invoked Belle Terre while asking how the Fourteenth Amendment applies to city limits on who may share a home.
Question presented
1. Whether, contrary to Belle Terre, an ordinance that prohibits people from living together in a home solely on the basis of their family relationship status violates the Fourteenth Amendment. 2. Whether the government’s desire to maintain the single-family character of neighborhoods is a constitutionally sufficient basis for an ordinance that prohibits unrelated people from sharing a home throughout a city, including in high-density, multi-family zones.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
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Case data updated: status
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Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Brief added: Petition
Court Order added: Lower Court Orders/Opinions
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.