West Virginia v. B. P. J. · ¶173

A few years later, the Court addressed an equal protection challenge against the same New York law, this time by Lehr, an unwed father who had “never established any custodial, personal, or financial relationship” with his daughter. Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U. S. 248, 267 (1983). This time the claim failed: Because Lehr was “not like the [father] involved in Caban,” the Court said, “the Equal Protection Clause d[id] not prevent a State” from treating Lehr’s “class” of unwed fathers differently. Id., at 267–268.

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