Yick Wo v. Hopkins

The Court held that a facially neutral laundry ordinance administered with discriminatory intent violated equal protection.

Overview

San Francisco required wooden laundries to obtain operating permits, yet denied permits to virtually every Chinese applicant while granting them to nearly all non-Chinese applicants. Yick Wo, imprisoned for operating without a permit, petitioned for habeas relief. Justice Matthews wrote for a unanimous Court that the ordinance, though neutral on its face, was administered with an evil eye and an unequal hand, discriminating on the basis of nationality. The decision established that discriminatory enforcement of neutral laws violates the Fourteenth Amendment and remains a foundation for equal protection claims proven through statistical disparities.