Equal Protection Clause Flashcards
Burden of proof for a federal statute that doesn’t involve a suspect or quasi-suspect classification challenged by a citizen
If no suspect or quasi-suspect classification is involved, the federal law will be upheld unless a challenger can prove that it is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest
Equal Protection Clause standards of review for suspect or quasi-suspect class
If Congress is discriminating against a suspect class, the standard of review is rational basis. If a state is discriminating against a suspect class, the standard of review is strict scrutiny.
State statute discriminating against a suspect or quasi-suspect classification
Under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a governmental action involving classification of persons will be subject to strict scrutiny if a suspect classification is involved. The law will be struck down unless the government proves that it is necessary to achieve a compelling interest.
State discriminating against resident aliens exception
State and local laws that classify persons based on alienage are subject to strict scrutiny unless the law is discriminating against alien participation in the functioning of the state government. In that case, the law will be upheld as long as it is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.
Equal Protection Clause - general rule for suspect classifications
The Equal Protection Clause prohibits states from discriminating against persons on the basis of race, alienage, or national origin unless the discrimination is necessary to achieve a compelling state interest.
Equal Protection - discrimination based on economic status but disguised as racial discrimination
The mere fact that a governmental action has a discriminatory effect is not sufficient to trigger strict scrutiny. There must be intent to discriminate on the part of the government. When the law does not discriminate on its face and is not applied in a discriminatory manner, a suspect classification will be found only if the lawmaking body enacted or maintained the law for a discriminatory purpose. While statistical evidence is admissible that the law has a disproportionate impact on one class of persons, such evidence will almost never be sufficient by itself to prove that the government had a discriminatory purpose in passing a law. Rational basis review used here.
Equal Protection - overall general rule to start with on essays
The Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause prohibits states and subsidiary state governments and entities from treating similarly situated people in a dissimilar manner without adequate justification.
Equal Protection - gender/sex discrimination
When a law intentionally discriminates on the basis of sex/gender, the Court applies intermediate scrutiny. Under intermediate scrutiny, discrimination will be upheld only if (i) the government can prove that (ii) the discrimination is substantially related to an important government interest. To uphold intentional discrimination on the basis of sex/gender, the government must show an exceedingly persuasive justification. The interest needed to support intentional sex/gender discrimination must be genuine and not hypothesized for litigation. The government may not rely on overbroad generalizations about males and females to justify intentional sex/gender discrimination.
Equal Protection - non-suspect classification
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prevents states from unfairly treating similarly situated persons differently. To determine whether a law violates the Equal Protection Clause, a court first considered whether a discriminatory classification exists. If so, the court determines what standard of review to use by considering whether a suspect classification is involved. When no suspect or quasi-suspect classification is involved, a court will review the law under the rational basis test. The court will uphold the law unless the challenger can show that the law bears no rational relationship to any legitimate government interest. A court will review the law for whether it violates the Equal Protection Clause. Because X is not considered a suspect or quasi-suspect classification, a court will use rational basis review. To prevail under rational basis review, a challenger must show that the law is not rationally related to any legitimate government interest. A court will uphold the government action if the court can conceive of any way the government action will help achieve any legitimate government purpose.
