Josh Alvarado, Erin Atz, Lauren Baldo, and States Beall

 There has always been a struggle for equality in America.  Constitutionally, equality involves interpreting laws. Politically, equality involves power.  Jefferson believed all men had equal rights and equal opportunity.  America doesn’t emphasize equal results or equal rewards because that limits opportunity.

 Richard Bland: “I am speaking of the rights of a people, rights imply equality.”  This view was not widely held following the Revolution  Slavery was a touchy subject  Knew slavery conflicted with values of the Declaration of Independence but decided to avoid the problem  Women’s rights were completely ignored

 America in 1787 held very different values than those seen today  Ex: The Constitutional delegates would have been apalled by the suggestion for equal rights for the deaf and gay  Delegates created a plan for government, not individual rights  Bill of Rights does not limit the scope of its guarantees to specified groups within society

 Fourteenth amendment only place where equality appears in the Constitution; forbids state from denying anyone “equal protection of the law”  Full force of the amendment was not met for almost 100 years  Equal protection clause now has few rivals in in generating legal business for the Supreme Court

 Fourteenth amendment means “equal protection, of life, liberty, and property” for all  In Strauder v. West Virginia (1880) the Court invalidated a law barring African Americans from jury service, but the Court refused to extend the amendment to remedy more subtle kinds of discrimination

 Equal protection clause means more expansive constitutional interpretation  To determine if certain discrimination is permissible, Supreme Court has three levels of scrutiny based on: race, gender, other (wealth, age)  Court ruled racial and ethnic classification invalid

 Classification by race/ethnicity, like college admissions, may be acceptable if they remedy previous discrimination  Law that discriminates on gender must have substantial relationship to important legislative purpose  Today equal protection clause forbids racial segregation in public schools, stops job discrimination, etc.