The Importance of the 14th Amendment

The fourteenth amendment covers equal protection as swell up as due process. One of the most influential amendments that is still performing a huge role even today in the speak to system is the equal protection clause. This clause which pass ons in section 1 No State shall deny to any person within its legal power the equal protection of the laws. In section 5, the Amendment establishes the federal civic rights mandate The Congress shall bring in power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. These clauses have been the basis for many court challenges, and ultimately the Supreme Court must(prenominal) regulate if discrimination issues argon unreasonably discriminatory against a occurrence group or class of individuals. This country has witnessed laws challenged under this Amendment much(prenominal) as the separate plainly equal laws, also known as Jim tout laws. The Supreme Court must use three different tryouts to keep an eye on if a law breaks the equal protection clause.The three tests are to implicate strict test, which prevents certain groups from practicing a fundamental right, such as license of speech. The law must be a compelling state interest. A law based on a suspect classification such as race falls under this test. There must be exculpation that a law is written and it is a compelling state interest. The next test is intermediate scrutiny. This is more difficult for the Court to decide on, but under this test, laws based on gender classification are allowed only when they are clearly related to a government issue.The punishment for statutory rape was an example used. Men are punished but women generally arent. The reason being, women are the ones who become pregnant, so an over while man who impregnates an under older girl has left her dealing with the ramifications of his actions. It is not as clear cut with an over aged women and under aged male. Yet having separate drinking ages for males and f emales does not meet the criteria of the intermediate scrutiny because it is unreasonable to think there should be any different in the genders in this case.The last test is the rational test. Most laws pass this test as most laws are reasonable. An example given was a city that didnt privation street venders in a certain field of town. The city just needs to show that it is reasonable to not want venders in an area because the city doesnt want an increase in traffic issues in an area, or any other reasonable justification for prohibiting certain actions. This clause however has been used to eventually overturn the appraisal that separate but equal is constitutional.In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that separate school was a violation and even harmful to children. Much of the civil rights movement was based on this clause, that all people are to be equal under the eyes of the law. Today we are looking at very similar battles going on in our courts. It is no womb-to-tomb an iss ue of race or even gender, but disabilities and sexual orientation. numerous are fighting for their equal protection under the law. They arent communicate for special treatment, just equal treatment, as protected by the fourteenth Amendment.