The Importance of the 14th Amendment

The fourteenth amendment covers sufficient safeguard as well as due process. virtuoso of the most influential amendments that is still playing a huge precedent even today in the judicial system system is the twin protection clause. This clause which states in section 1 No State shall disown to any person within its jurisdiction the sufficient protection of the rights. In section 5, the Amendment establishes the federal civil rights legislation The Congress shall have 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 decide if discrimination issues be unreasonably discriminatory against a particular group or screen out of individuals. This country has witnessed laws challenged under this Amendment such as the separate but personify laws, also known as Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court must use three different judges to determine if a law breaks t he adjoin protection clause.The three tests be to include strict scrutiny, which prevents certain groups from practicing a fundamental right, such as freedom of speech. The law must be a compelling state interest. A law ground on a suspect classification such as race locomote under this test. There must be justification that a law is written and it is a compelling state interest. The next test is talk terms scrutiny. This is more difficult for the Court to decide on, but under this test, laws based on gender classification be allowed only when they are all the way related to a government issue.The punishment for statutory rape was an use 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 antiquated girl has left her dealing with the ramifications of his actions. It is not as clear have it away with an over aged women and under aged male. Yet having separate swallow ages fo r males and females 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 want path venders in a certain area of town. The city just involve 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 idea that separate but equal is constitutional.In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated school was a colza 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 eyeball of the law. Today we are looking at very similar battles dismissal on in our courts. It is no longer an issue of race or even gender, but disabilities and sexual orientation. Many are fighting for their equal protection under the law. They arent asking for special treatment, just equal treatment, as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.