When determining the constitutionality of discriminatory law or government action, court apply a standard test that varies depending on the classification of the person being discriminated against. The three test include: (1) the strict scrutiny test, (2) the intermediate scrutiny test, and (3) the rational basis test.
For laws or government action involving gender discrimination, courts apply the intermediate scrutiny test. A law or government action discriminating against gender must be substantially related to an important governmental interest.
United States v. Virginia provides an illustration to how courts analyze government action that discriminates based on race. 518 U.S. 515 (1996). Here, Virginia Military Institute ("VMI"), a public school, denied admission to females. VMI believed its mission to provide a "citizen-soldier" education, based on an adversative method of teach, was unsuitable for females. The United States sued Virginia, alleging that the denial of females violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States found VMI's policy to be discriminatory. The Court found that the exclusion of women based on VMI's mission could not reasonably be applied to show an important government interest existed in excluding women from the school.
For laws or government action that discriminate based on race or ethnicity, courts apply the strict scrutiny test. A law or government action discriminating against race must have a compelling government interest and be narrowly tailored to that interest to survive an equal protection challenge.
Brown v. Board of Education illustrates how courts analyze laws that discriminate on race. 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Here, a school in Topeka, Kansas, denied the plaintiff admission to a segregated "all-white" public school. The defendant claimed the law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because African American students were given separate facilities. However, the Supreme Court of the United States disagreed, finding that such separation created a detrimental effect on African American students and created a sense of inferiority.
