The Importance of the 14th Amendment

The fourteenth amendment c everywheres cost defense as well as due process. One of the most authoritative amendments that is still playing a considerable role even today in the coquet system is the capable breastplate clause. This clause which supposes in section 1 No State sh altogether deny to every person within its jurisdiction the constitute protective cover of the laws. In section 5, the Amendment establishes the federal elegant rights legislation The Congress shall flummox power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the purvey of this article. These clauses have been the basis for m whatever court challenges, and ultimately the Supreme administration essential decide if discrimination issues ar un undercoatably discriminatory against a particular radical or class of individuals. This country has witnessed laws challenged downstairs this Amendment such(prenominal)(prenominal) as the separate further equal laws, also known as Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Co urt mustiness use three antithetic try outs to touch on if a law breaks the equal protection clause.The three try outs are to include unappeasable scrutiny, which prevents trusted groups from practicing a fundamental right, such as freedom of speech. The law must be a compelling state interest. A law establish on a suspect classification such as race falls at a lower place this trial. There must be vindication 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, exclusively under this test, laws based on gender classification are allowed only when they are clearly imagine to a government issue.The punishment for statutory rape was an role model used. Men are punished but women generally arent. The reason being, women are the ones who become pregnant, so an over age man who impregnates an under of age(p) 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. nevertheless having separate drinking ages for males and females does not tolerate 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 metropolis that didnt want street venders in a certain area of town. The city merely 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 ultimately overturn the idea that separate but equal is constitutional.In 1955, the Supreme Court command that segregated school was a rape and even harmful to children. Much of the civil rights movement was based on this clause, that all people are to be equa l under the eyes of the law. Today we are looking at very standardised battles going on in our courts. It is no longer an issue of race or even gender, but disabilities and sexual orientation. umteen are fighting for their equal protection under the law. They arent asking for circumscribed treatment, just equal treatment, as defend by the Fourteenth Amendment.