re: #39 lawhawk

The US Supreme Court, back in the early 1970’s had an opportunity to declare sex a “suspect class” which would require “strict scrutiny” in evaluating whether an act or law should be upheld. Only a plurality of the Court felt sex was a suspect class. Others felt that, since the ERA was in the process of ratification by the states, declaring sex a suspect class would usurp the constitional process of ratifying the ERA. Only Justice Rehnquist felt that was the basis of the appeal was contitutional.

Since then, no case, to my knowledge, has been brought before the Supremes in which the court felt obliged to determine whether sex was a suspect class and thus deserved the same constitutional protection as race, religion or national origin.