Ho Ah Kow v. Nunan

12 F. Cas. 252 (No. 6546) (1879)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

California passed an act 'concerning lodging-houses and sleeping apartments within the limits of incorporated cities,' declaring, among other things, that any person found sleeping or lodging in a room or an apartment containing less than five hundred cubic feet of space in the clear for each person occupying it, should be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than ten or more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment. P was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of ten dollars or to be imprisoned for five days in the county jail. P was imprisoned and D cut off his queue. P was Chinese. Among Chinese men, the deprivation of the queue is regarded as a mark of disgrace and is attended, according to their religious faith, with misfortune and suffering after death. D knew of this custom and religious faith of the Chinese. P has suffered great mental anguish, been disgraced in the eyes of his friends and relatives, and ostracized from association with his countrymen. P sued D seeking ten thousand dollars in damages. D claimed justification under an ordinance of the city and county of San Francisco. The ordinance states that every male person imprisoned in the county jail, under the judgment of any court having jurisdiction in criminal cases in the city and county, shall immediately upon his arrival at the jail have the hair of his head 'cut or clipped to a uniform length of one inch from the scalp thereof,' and it is made the duty of the sheriff to have this provision enforced. P claims the ordinance exceeds the authority of the board of supervisors, and violates equal protection of the laws as it is directed almost exclusively at Chinese men.