How do the courts apply their tiered-interpretation of the equal protection clause?
The courts use different tests to evaluate laws employing different sorts of classifications. “Race” has been labeled a “suspect” class and therefore the courts apply “strict scrutiny” to all laws that incorporate some sort of racial classification. Laws that employ different sorts of classifications, such as age and income level, are evaluated by a less rigorous test. Using the “Lindsley test,” the courts ask simply if the classification is reasonable. In recent decades, the Supreme Court also introduced an “intermediate” standard for evaluating laws that incorporate gender classification. If a state passes a law that treats men and women differently, the courts demand proof that the law pursues an “important government objective” and that the use of a gender classification is “substantially related” to the achievement of that objective.
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