Since mid-February, the government's approach to laws or government practices that classify people based on their sexual orientation has changed significantly. The impact of that change is no more clear than is seen by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's response to a government brief -- about jury selection -- filed with the court on Feb. 17.
Under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment -- applied to the federal government through the Fifth Amendment -- all laws that classify people into groups receive a level of scrutiny: rational basis, which is the lowest form of scrutiny; heightened scrutiny; or strict scrutiny. Read more...
