Jonah Patel
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1868, is a key text when discussing equality. The amendment, which extended liberties and rights to formerly enslaved people, includes the Equal Protection Clause, which states that no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. This clause has been pivotal in shaping equality and civil rights in the U.S., with its broad wording allowing for interpretations that go beyond its original purpose of protecting Black citizens from discrimination.
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What You'll Learn
The 14th Amendment
One of the key provisions of the 14th Amendment is the extension of liberties and rights outlined in the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. This amendment ensured that "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." This declaration of citizenship was a fundamental step towards equality, as it granted citizenship to those who had been denied it due to their enslavement.
Additionally, the 14th Amendment includes a crucial clause known as the "Privileges or Immunities Clause." This clause stipulates that no state shall make or enforce any law that abridges the privileges or immunities of US citizens. In other words, it protects the rights of citizens from being infringed upon by state governments, ensuring a level of equality under the law.
Another essential aspect of the 14th Amendment is the "Due Process Clause," which safeguards the rights of individuals to life, liberty, and property. According to this clause, no state can deprive any person of these fundamental rights without due process of law. This provision has been central to numerous landmark cases, including Roe v. Wade, Lochner v. New York, and Mathews v. Eldridge.
Furthermore, the 14th Amendment includes the "Equal Protection Clause," which states that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This clause has been invoked in various significant cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, Reed v. Reed, and University of California v. Bakke, to challenge racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and other forms of inequality. The "Equal Protection Clause" is arguably the most frequently litigated phrase in the amendment, underscoring its importance in ensuring equality under the law.
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Civil Rights
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, is specifically concerned with civil rights. The amendment was designed to extend the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, guaranteeing equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens. It also granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States".
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment includes the Equal Protection Clause, which states that no state shall make or enforce any law that abridges the privileges or immunities of US citizens. This clause was originally intended to stop states from discriminating against Black citizens, but its broad wording has led to a broader interpretation. For example, it has been used to prevent the federal government from discriminating, and to rule that segregation in schools is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has also used the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, immigration status, and wedlock status at birth.
One of the controversies regarding the Equal Protection Clause today is whether the Court should find that sexual orientation is a suspect classification. In the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the Court suggested that discrimination against gays and lesbians can violate the Equal Protection Clause, but did not decide on the level of scrutiny that should be applied.
Another key principle of the U.S. Constitution is that all citizens are treated equally under the law, guaranteeing equality of opportunity. This principle encourages meritocracy and a colour-blind society, rather than race- or sex-based favouritism.
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Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, mandates that individuals in similar situations be treated equally by the law. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It also granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States."
The Equal Protection Clause states that "nor shall any State [...] deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This clause was intended to validate the equality provisions contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed that all citizens would have the right to equal protection by law. It is located at the end of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Fourteenth Amendment marked a significant shift in American constitutionalism, imposing far more constitutional restrictions on the states than had been in place before the Civil War. The Equal Protection Clause has been central to many Supreme Court decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which helped dismantle racial segregation, and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalised same-sex marriages.
While the Equal Protection Clause only applies to state and local governments, the Supreme Court has held that the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires equal protection under the laws of the federal government. This means that individuals can bring a lawsuit against the federal or state government if they believe their guaranteed equal rights have been violated.
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Affirmative action
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which came into effect on July 9, 1868, grants citizenship to all those born in the country and extends due process protections to state governments. It also guarantees "equal protection under the law". The Fourteenth Amendment reflects Lincoln's vision that "the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence" extend to people of all races.
The interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment has been a key aspect of the debate on affirmative action. Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including race, gender, and national origin into account to promote equal opportunities and access for disadvantaged groups. The Supreme Court has upheld affirmative action policies in the past, such as in the 1977 Fullilove v. Klutznick case, where it ruled that setting aside 10% of federal funding for public works projects for businesses owned by "minority group members" was constitutional. The majority opinion held that the government had a compelling interest in remedying past discrimination against minority groups.
However, the Supreme Court has also ruled against affirmative action policies in college admissions, such as in the 2023 decision that using race as a factor in admissions violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court acknowledged that the equal protection clause protects against discrimination based on race but also prohibits "rewarding" people because of their race. This decision overturned race-conscious admissions policies that had been practised for decades.
The impact of this decision on diversity in higher education remains to be seen, but alternative policies may not be able to fully replace race-conscious admissions. Some schools have implemented policies such as automatically admitting the top graduates from each high school in the state, which can increase racial and socioeconomic diversity without considering race directly.
While affirmative action in college admissions has faced legal challenges, it is important to note that affirmative action in the context of employment and contracting has also been a subject of debate. For example, California's Proposition 209, passed in 1996, abolished all public-sector affirmative action programs in the state in these areas.
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Equality of opportunity
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, is a key part of the Constitution that addresses equality. This amendment extended the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, guaranteeing equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens.
The 14th Amendment includes the Equal Protection Clause, which was originally intended to stop states from discriminating against Black citizens. The text of the clause is worded broadly, and it has evolved since its original purpose. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit discrimination not just on the basis of race but also on other grounds, such as gender, immigration status, and wedlock status at birth.
While the 14th Amendment was a significant step towards equality, it did not immediately end discriminatory practices. For example, in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities for Blacks and whites did not violate the Equal Protection Clause, cementing racist Jim Crow-era laws. It was not until 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, that the Supreme Court unanimously overruled Plessy, holding that separate schools for Blacks and whites were unconstitutional.
The concept of "equality of opportunity" is central to the American Dream and is based on the principle that all citizens should be treated equally under the law. This means that individuals should be treated as individuals, not as part of a particular race or group, and that meritocracy and a colour-blind society are valued. However, a movement has emerged that threatens this principle by promoting the idea of predetermined outcomes based on immutable characteristics, rather than individual strengths, efforts, or achievements.
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Frequently asked questions
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was passed in 1868 after the Civil War to guarantee equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens. The Clause states that "no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States".
The Equal Protection Clause prohibits states from discriminating against citizens on the basis of race, national origin, gender, immigration status, and wedlock status at birth. It has been interpreted to prevent the federal government from discriminating as well.
The Equal Protection Clause has been used to challenge racial segregation, discriminatory laws, and affirmative action programs. In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court held that separate schools for blacks and whites violated the Equal Protection Clause, marking a turning point in the struggle to dismantle government-imposed segregation.
