(UG)U3: 19 How Has the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Changed the Constitution

2. With what arguments did the Court abandon the doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education?

the NAACP and unanimously decided that separate education facilities are "inherently unequal." Therefore, the Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that in the field of public education, the "separate but equal" doctrine has no place

1. What was the "separate but equal" doctrine? How did the Supreme Court justify the doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson?

- Separation of facilities base on rase are constitutional as long as they are the same - The Court ruled that racially segregated public facilities are constitutional if those facilities are of equal quality.

equality of opportunity

A right guaranteed by both federal and many state laws against discrimination in employment, education, housing, or credit rights due to a person's race, color, sex and sometimes sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, or handicap.

equality of condition?

Equality in all aspects of life, such as wealth, standards of living, medical care, and working conditions.

rational basis

In U.S. constitutional law, the lowest level of scrutiny applied by courts deciding constitutional issues through judicial review.

intermediate scrutiny

In U.S. constitutional law, the middle level of scrutiny applied by courts deciding constitutional issues through judicial review.

3. How has the equal protection clause been interpreted since 1954?

Supreme Court uses three levels to decide whether laws that create classifications violate the guarantee of equal protection of the laws level 1. Strict scrutiny: laws that create classifications based on race, national origin, religion, or status. (deny or dilute the right to vote, impede interstate travel, or appear to restrict access to the courts) level 2. intermediate scrutiny: Classification based on gender and illegitimacy level 3. rational basis: all other laws that create classifications(wealth, disability, and age)

separate but equal

The argument, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) but later reversed, that racially segregated public facilities are constitutional if those facilities are of equal quality.

strict scrutiny

Under U.S. constitutional law, the second highest level of scrutiny used by courts reviewing federal law for constitutional legitimacy. "Super strict scrutiny" is the highest level.