EQUAL PROTECTION

in U.S. law, the constitutional guarantee that no person or group will be denied that protection under the law which is enjoyed by similar persons or groupsi.e., persons similarly situated must be similarly treated. Equal protection is extended when the rules of law are applied equally in all like cases and when persons are exempt from obligations greater than those imposed upon others in like circumstances. In the United States, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, one of three post-Civil War amendments, prohibits states from denying any person the equal protection of the laws. Traditionally, until the 1960s, the Supreme Court held that the postwar amendments had but one purpose: to guarantee the freedom of the slave race . . . and the protection of the newly-made freeman and citizen from the oppressions of those who had formerly exercised unlimited domination over him. Thus, the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was applied minimally, except in cases of racial discrimination. As late as 1927, in Buck v. Bell, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes referred to equal protection as the usual last resort of constitutional arguments. In the 1960s, however, the court under Chief Justice Earl Warren dramatically transformed the concept of equal protection, applying it to cases involving welfare benefits, exclusionary zoning, municipal services, and school financing. Equal protection became a prolific source of constitutional litigation. Under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger the court added considerably to the list of situations that might be adjudicated under the doctrine of equal protection, including sexual discrimination, status and rights of aliens, and legitimacy of birth.