Moore v. East Cleveland: Constructing the Suburban Family
Files
Description
This story, set in the early 1970s, has three central characters. The first is Inez Moore, an African-American grandmother. The second is East Cleveland, a deteriorating city of approximately 40,000 residents, lying between Cleveland, Ohio and the more stable suburban city of Cleveland Heights. The last is the Supreme Court of the United States. These characters converged in Moore v. City of East Cleveland, which held that the Due Process Clause protects not only the traditional nuclear family, but also members of extended households—including grandparents and their grandchildren—who live with one another "for mutual sustenance and to maintain or build a secure home life." As we shall see, Moore also raised hard, enduring questions about the authority of local governments to make decisions on behalf of their communities and about race and social class in the United States. But before getting to all of that, let me develop each of the characters a bit.
Source Publication
Family Law Stories
Source Editors/Authors
Carol Sanger
Publication Date
2008
Recommended Citation
Davis, Peggy C., "Moore v. East Cleveland: Constructing the Suburban Family" (2008). Faculty Chapters. 303.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/303
