Laws Subject To Equal Protection Scrutiny
Constitutional Equal Protection analysis applies not only to challenges against the federal government, but also to state and local governments. Although the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause applies only to state and local governments, the United States Supreme Court has implied an Equal Protection limitation on the federal government through a process known as "reverse incorporation." As the Fourteenth Amendment applies directly to the states, the incorporation process was unnecessary to hold this restriction against state and local governments. Equal Protection analysis also applies to both legislative and executive action regardless if the action is of a substantive or procedural nature. Judicially-crafted (common law) rules are also valid only if they conform to the requirements of Equal Protection. See, e.g., Reed v. Campbell, 476 U.S. 852 (1986).
Read more about this topic: Intermediate Scrutiny
Famous quotes containing the words laws, subject, equal and/or protection:
“It is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the exceution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is less need of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction.”
—Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689–1755)
“The idea of feminine authority is so deeply embedded in the human subconscious that even after all these centuries of father-right the young child instinctively regards the mother as the supreme authority. He looks upon the father as equal with himself, equally subject to the woman’s rule. Children have to be taught to love, honor, and respect the father.”
—Elizabeth Gould Davis (b. 1910)
“Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward’s art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm’s way when you are weak. That is the whole secret of successful fighting. Get your enemy at a disadvantage; and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“As Jerome expanded, its chances for the title, “the toughest little town in the West,” increased and when it was incorporated in 1899 the citizens were able to support the claim by pointing to the number of thick stone shutters on the fronts of all saloons, gambling halls, and other places of business for protection against gunfire.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)