"Kevin Wayne Williams" <kww.nihongo@verizon.nut> wrote in message
news:10jk2tpje6v7d42@news.supernews.com...
> necoandjeff wrote:
>
> > "Kevin Wayne Williams" <kww.nihongo@verizon.nut> wrote in message
> > news:10jim7q91uns33c@news.supernews.com...
> >
> >>necoandjeff wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>I'm not interpreting the fourteenth
> >>>amendment in a vacuum. There is a fair number of supreme court rulings
> >
> > that
> >
> >>>have enlightened us all as to what "No State shall...deny to any person
> >>>within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" really means.
> >
> > You
> >
> >>>may disagree with the supreme court's interpretation, but I'm not so
> >>>ambitious as to want the supreme court to completely overturn its prior
> >>>jurisprudence on the subject.
> >>
> >>I agree the Fourteenth has not traditionally been interpreted that way
> >>... it hasn't traditionally been interpreted to permit same-sex marriage
> >>either. Most people would argue that you are aiming to expand it.
> >
> >
> > There's no tradition about it. The issue of same sex marriage hasn't
come
> > before the supreme court. What the court has held is that if a law
> > discriminates based on sex, it must be substantially related to an
important
> > governmental interest.
>
> I don't get Con Law until next year, so I will ask before I continue:
> isn't the reasoning behind the determination that gender and race
> discrimation requires the heightened scrutiny level based on the concept
> that gender and race are innate? That the person suffering from the
> discriminatory behaviour has had no opportunity or choice to rectify the
> "problem", making a governmental reaction to it a denial of due process?

As Kevin pointed out, race and gender get different levels of scrutiny. But
equal protection under the fourteenth amendment is based on a different
clause than the one due process is based on. But you are generally on the
right track. If I recall correctly, the court looks at such things as
immutability of the trait, history of discrimination, the political power of
the group, etc. when deciding whether a class is deserving of protection
under the fourteenth amendment.

Jeff