Plyler v. Doe Precedents:

1. Shaughnessy v. Mezei (1953): Aliens (even illegal aliens) have long been recognized as "persons" guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
2. Tigner v. Texas (1940): The Constitution does not require things which are different in fact or opinion to be treated in law as though they were the same.
3. Trimble v. Gordon (1977): Children can affect neither their parents' conduct nor their own status.
4. San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez (1973): Public education is not a "right" granted to individuals by the Constitution.
5. De Canas v. Bica (1976): States do have some authority to act with respect to illegal aliens, at least where such action mirrors federal objectives and furthers a legitimate state goal.
6. Shapiro v. Thompson (1969): A State may not reduce expenditures for education by barring (some arbitrarily chosen class of) children from its school.
7. Weber v. Aetna Casualty (1972): Visiting condemnation on the head of an infant for the misdeeds of the parents is illogical, unjust, and contrary to the basic concept of our system that legal burdens should bear some relationship to individual responsibility or wrongdoing.
8. TVA v. Hill (1978): The Constitution does not vest in this Court the authority to strike down laws because they do not meet our standards of desirable social policy, wisdom, or common sense.
9. Jefferson v. Hackney (1972): The Equal Protection Clause does not mandate identical treatment of different categories of persons.