ALL IN THE FAMILY: ASSESSING THE DEFINITION OF "FAMILY" IN CITY OF

AI Summary

This legal note analyzes the Louisiana Supreme Court's decision in City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge v. Myers, which upheld Baton Rouge's zoning ordinance limiting single-family residential occupancy to persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption. The court rejected equal protection and Fair Housing Act challenges to the definition of "family." The author argues that the ordinance's restrictive definition fails to account for complex non-traditional co-residential relationships and reflects an underlying bias toward nuclear families in suburban environments. The analysis examines the zoning ordinance, equal protection doctrine, and FHA provisions while concluding the definition is legally and conceptually flawed.