Craig v. Boren

An Oklahoma statute prohibited the sale of “non-intoxicating” 3.2 percent alcoholic beer to males under 21 but permitted the sale of such beer to females over 18. Liquor vendors that made sales violating the statute faced sanctions and a loss of license. Curtis Craig (plaintiff), a male between 18 and 21, and Carolyn Whitener (plaintiff), an Oklahoma liquor vendor, sued Oklahoma governor David Boren (defendant) in federal court to challenge the statute’s constitutionality. Craig and Whitener argued that the statute’s gender-based distinction violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Oklahoma argued that the distinction was intended to promote traffic safety. In support, the state presented statistical evidence that significantly more 18-to-20-year-old males were arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) than females in that age group. Specifically, of all females in that age group, only 0.18 percent were arrested for DUI, in comparison to 2 percent of males. The district court concluded that the state had presented sufficient justification for the statute’s differential treatment and therefore upheld the statute. Craig and Whitener appealed to the United States Supreme Court. While the appeal was pending, Craig turned 21, rendering the dispute moot as to him. The Supreme Court therefore addressed the threshold matter of whether Whitener had third-party standing to proceed with the constitutional challenge before turning to the substantive merits of the equal-protection claim.