William O. Douglas

“ When Kansas denies him the right to pursue his livelihood, it destroys his competence for reasons that have no relation to competency. States have great leeway in making classifications, in providing general rules, in differentiating evils by broad lines or by narrow ones. ”

“ Where, however, a State declares what purpose the law has, no room is left to conceive of any other purpose it may serve. See Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc., v. Bowers, 358 U.S. 522, 530, 79 S.Ct. 437, 442, 3 L.Ed.2d 480. A law, fair on its face, may be applied in a way that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ”

“ These four factors, applicable perhaps to 'Kansas licensed attorneys officed in Missouri' (187 Kan., at 482, 357 P.2d, at 790) , plainly have no relevancy to petitioner who has an active practice in Kansas. This case is therefore quite different from those where 'incidental individual inequality' (Phelps v. Board of Education, 300 U.S. 319, 324, 57 S.Ct. 483, 485, 81 L.Ed. 674) results from putting many into one class, treating them all alike, and disregarding slight or minor differences among them.
If Kansas can deny this lawyer his livelihood, so can Missouri. ”