by TChris

There may be a legitimate public interest in limiting the number of people who are permitted to occupy a single residence, but that interest doesn't justify an ordinance that permits families to live together if the parents are married to each other while prohibiting them from living together if the parents are unmarried. The St. Louis suburb of Black Jack nonetheless thinks it has the right to keep unmarried couples with more than one child from occupying the same home.

The mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.... Mayor Norman McCourt said starting Wednesday the city will begin trying to evict groups who do not fit into Black Jack's definition of family, reports CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis.

Putting aside whether the law is so arbitrary as to violate the constitutional right to equal protection, or whether it invades a couples' personal privacy interest in deciding whether to marry before cohabiting, the ordinance is poor public policy. Does putting families out on the street promote family values?