Constitutional Standards of Review under the Equal Protection Clause

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Constitutional Standards of Review under the
Equal Protection Clause
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• Supreme Court has set up classifications or
  categories for issues it reviews
• Fundamental freedoms, race, ethnicity, gender,
  age, wealth etc.

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• Standards set and used to determine whether the
  Equal Protection Clause has been violated
• Not everyone, every issue is treated exactly the
  same

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• I. Strict Scrutiny
• Heightened standard of review
• Used to determine constitutionality of an issue
• Used when fundamental freedoms are involved
• Religion
• Assembly
• Press
• Privacy, etc.

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• Includes suspect classification such as race,
  national origin
• Reviewing an issue that restricts these rights
  requires the most rigid scrutiny
• Ex Brown v Board of Education
• Race based distinctions

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• Statute is presumed to be unconstitutional
  unless
• The government can prove the law is necessary to
  accomplish a permissible goal
• It is accomplished by the least restrictive means
• Ex Korematsu v U.S.
• Goal-safety during war, internment camps least
  restrictive means

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• Court ruled national risks posed by Japanese
  Americans were sufficient enough to justify
  internment-1944
• Brown v Board of Education - segregation not
  necessary to accomplish state goal of educating
  its students

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• II. Intermediate standard of review Used for
  gender issues
• Does classifying gender serve an important
  governmental objective?
• It it substantially related to those ends?
• Actually related, not theoretical
• Reasonable basis test

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• Craig v Boren
• Keep drunk drivers off the road-goal
• Allowing 18-21 year old women to drink alcohol is
  not substantially related to that goal - OK
• US v VA Military Institute
• All male admission policy
• Unconstitutional-no important governmental
  objective
• Pregnant women and job restraints

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• III. Minimum Rationality Standard
• Applies to most laws
• Atkins v Virginia - death penalty does not apply
  to mentally impaired
• Minimum standard applied for basis of
  discrimination.
• Government must allege a rational foundation for
  any distinctions they make

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• EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  created as a regulatory body - Force of the law
• One of its regulations Affirmative Action
• Created program which provided special
  opportunities
• Law says cannot discriminate based on gender,
  race
• AA says we are going to make decisions based on
  gender and race

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• Affirmative Action
• Born of the civil rights movement
• Minorities and women to be given special
  consideration
• Employment
• Education
• Contracting decisions
• Purpose to equalize the scales between
  Caucasians and minority groups

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• Does Affirmative Action make things better or
  worse?
• University of CA v Bakke 1978
• Gratz v. Bollinger 2002
• Grutter v. Bollinger 2003