What is the Equal Protection Clause? The Equal Protection Clause said that a state may not deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The Interactive Constitution is available as a free app on your mobile device. A long-standing principle of the United States’ justice system is that defendants should not be treated differently because of their race, codified in the “Equal Protection” clause of … Plessy v. Ferguson, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 18, 1896, by a seven-to-one majority (one justice did not participate), advanced the controversial “ separate but equal” doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. . Based on the type of discrimination alleged, the individual will first need to prove that the governing body actually discriminated against the individual. The individual will need to prove that the governing body's action resulted in an actual harm to the individual. 7 Richter, Nicole, "A Standard for "Class of One" Claims Under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment: Protecting Victims of Non-Class based Discrimination From Vindictive State Action", Valparaiso University Law Review, Volume35, Number 1, Fall 2000, pg.197-200. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. The court will determine which scrutiny the individual will be subject to, relying on legal precedent to determine which level of scrutiny to use. Genesis Martinez*. VI. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. Here the analysis is more complex. In 1978, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court found that race-conscious measures designed to address the effects of discrimination were as presumptively unconstitutional as was discrimination rooted in racial antipathy and the belief in racial inferiority. . In June 2015, by a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges , the Supreme Court conclusively recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage and required the states to permit same-sex couples to exercise that right. Obviously, the Equal Protection Clause cannot mean that government is obligated to treat all persons exactly the same--only, at most, that it is obligated to treat people the same if they are "similarly circumstanced." No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Like many constitutional provisions, the Equal Protection Clause continues to be in flux. En Español In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of "equal protection of the laws" expected the President, the Congress, and the courts to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment. Under race-neutral affirmative action, governments use preferences for characteristics that correlate with race instead of race itself to try to increase opportunities for blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans. The notion that mere race-consciousness, whatever its intent, was inconsistent with the Fourteenth Amendment is unsupported by history. This has undermined the notion that racial preferences spread opportunity more equally throughout society. Amdt14.S1.3.1.1.1 Due Process Clause and Incorporation: Overview of Doctrine and Practice Amdt14.S1.3.1.1.2 Due Process Clause and Incorporation: Early Doctrine Amdt14.S1.4 Equal Protection … The Equal Protection Clause’s duality is evidenced by the fact that the Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment adopted all manners of race-conscious measures specifically for black Americans: the Freedman’s Bureau, schools, hospitals, banks, and land. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. Title IX specifically prohibits sex discrimination. It rested diversity in universities’ First Amendment-based interest in academic freedom, rather than in the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection-based interest of African Americans and other people of color in educational opportunity at institutions from which they had long been excluded. The Equal Protection Clause was created largely in response to the lack of equal protection provided by law in states with Black Codes. for elections (i.e., equal protection, due process, and the Electors Clause) and thus arise under federal law. But the Court did not decide what level of scrutiny should apply, leaving this question for another day. Scholars and activists discuss the past and potential of the Equal Rights Amendment. One of the greatest controversies regarding the Equal Protection Clause today is whether the Court should find that sexual orientation is a suspect classification. That Amendment erects no shield against merely private conduct, however discriminatory or wrongful. Under the 14th Amendment, 'all … Many people assume these programs are constitutional because they do not rely on racial classifications but on geographic classifications. Amendment 14, Section 1 reads: No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Even while it has other, no less important, work to do, it its original work is unfinished. In light of the history of the Equal Protection Clause, it is no surprise that race and national origin are suspect classifications. Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, More from the National Constitution Center, © Copyright 2021 National Constitution Center, The Equal Rights Amendment Through History. The governing body state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances. What is clear is that this will be an area of very contentious litigation for the foreseeable future. 1. The ERA would provide a clearer judicial standard for deciding cases of sex discrimination. In the years following Bakke, students of color were admitted to selective colleges and universities in modest numbers, even if Bakke’s viability was under continued criticism and attack in social discourse as well as in the courts. Before proceeding, it is important to remember that a government is allowed to discriminate against individuals, as long as the discrimination satisfies the equal protection analysis outlined below, and described in full detail in this Santa Clara Law Review article. § 1983 et seq.) University of Pennsylvania Law Review article. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal, so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.The ruling constitutionally sanctioned laws barring African Americans from sharing the same buses, schools and other public facilities as whites—known as “Jim Crow” laws—and established the “separate but equal” doctrine that would stand for the next six decades.But by the ea… Clause 1 Definitions. The Supreme Court in Strauder v. For more on equal protection, see this Harvard Law Review article, this University of Pennsylvania Law Review article, and this Columbia University Law Review article. In general, the equal pro-tection clause requires that government classifications be supported by a sufficient justification. Pursuant to these clauses, Congress has enacted major pieces of legislation that have extended protection against discrimination beyond that contained in the Constitution.The Civil Rights Act of 1871 (42 U.S.C.A. [T]he answer lies in assessing whether there is a right to education explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution. Explore key historical documents that inspired the Framers of the Constitution and each amendment during the drafting process, the early drafts and major proposals behind each provision, and discover how the drafters deliberated, agreed and disagreed, on the path to compromise and the final text. The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws". Still, there is great irony in the fact that many of the effects of systemic and intergenerational racial discrimination, especially as visited upon African Americans, remain intact, even in “The Age of Obama.” The Court has placed them beyond the reach of law. Equal Protection refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. 107, 141-46 (976). See Bush v Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 113 (2000) (“significant departure from the legislative scheme for appointing Presidential electors presents a federal constitutional question”) (Rehnquist, C.J., concurring). The Equal Protection Clause does, however, render invalid a statute requiring the sterilization of persons convicted of various offenses when the statute draws a line between like offenses, such as between larceny by fraud and embezzlement. EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW A. Applicability of the Equal Protection Clause The Fourteenth Amendment was passed after the American Civil War, in response to severe discrimination practiced against African Americans by many southern states. Equal Protection Clause, 5 PHIL. . The equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment was first applied to sex discrimination only in 1971, and it has never been interpreted to grant equal rights on the basis of sex in the uniform and inclusive way that the ERA would. The Fifth Amendment due process clause prohibits the federal government from discrimination if the discrimination is so unjustifiable that it violates due process of law (Bolling v. Over recent decades, the Supreme Court has developed a three-tiered approach to analysis under the Equal Protection Clause. The implementation of the Equal Protection Clause marked a pivotal point in the American Constitution. The Equal Protection Clause is one of the most litigated and significant provisions in contemporary constitutional law. The first big leap in corporate personhood from mere property rights to more expansive rights was a claim that the Equal Protection Clause applied to corporations. 2 426 U.S. 229 (1976). 14th Amendment and Equal Protection. If people were separated into different facilities by race, but those facilities were purportedly equally suitable, did that constitute discrimination? Still, Justice Powell proffered an alternative ground for race-conscious admissions by colleges and universities. Obviously, the Equal Protection Clause cannot mean that government is obligated to treat all persons exactly the same--only, at most, that it is obligated to treat people the same if they are "similarly circumstanced." Bakke’s assault on the remedial imperative began a mere ten years after the beginning of the end of the subordination continuum. 1, which invalidated voluntary, and by their nature, race-conscious, public school desegregation efforts in Seattle and in Louisville. Amdt14.S1.3.1.1.1 Due Process Clause and Incorporation: Overview of Doctrine and Practice Amdt14.S1.3.1.1.2 Due Process Clause and Incorporation: Early Doctrine Amdt14.S1.4 Equal Protection … The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. The National Constitution is a private nonprofit. 3 Id. First, some people believe that the individuals who take opportunities on account of racial preferences are actually wealthier than those who are displaced. Legal definition of equal protection clause: the clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits any state from denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. But the text of the Clause is worded very broadly and it has come a long way from its original purpose. On March 26, 1962, the Supreme Court decided Baker v. Carr, finding that it had the power to review the redistricting of state…, In this three-part clip from FOURTEEN: A Theatrical Performance, a performer embodying notable women from the reconstruction…. Equal protection forces a state to govern impartially—not draw distinctions between individuals solely on differences that are irrelevant to a legitimate governmental objective. The Grutter majority garnered 5 votes for Powell’s diversity rationale, mooting a long running argument that it had never commanded five votes. the equal protection clause is applicable, and one must determine whether the government complied with the requirements of the clause. The Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Claim. In spite of the Fourteenth Amendment’s original purposes—and notwithstanding continued racial inequality in higher education—a majority of the Bakke Court held that the Amendment had no special meaning for African Americans. 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