Houser v. State

Houser (plaintiff) challenged Washington's minimum drinking age of 21 as violating equal protection for 18-to-20-year-olds, submitting expert testimony rebutting the traditional justifications for that age limit; the State (defendant) moved for summary judgment, asking the court to take judicial notice of two technical studies supporting the age restriction and a federal precedent upholding a similar law. The trial court relied on those studies and the precedent to grant summary judgment for the State, and Houser appealed, arguing the studies weren't the kind of universally settled facts appropriate for judicial notice and that a trial was needed to resolve disputed factual issues.