Equal Protection

Equality under law is not a decoration.

It is a demand—a moral and constitutional requirement.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no state shall “deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.”

But that simple phrase asks hard questions.

Equal protection is not merely about treating everyone the same.

It is about ensuring that the law does not serve some while failing others.

We must ask not only what the law says, but what the law does.

Does it protect only those with resources to speak up?

Does it punish those already burdened by history, race, gender, or poverty?

Does it assume fairness without checking for harm?

When the law looks neutral but its effects are not—equal protection is violated.

The Constitution does not promise equality of outcomes,

but it does demand that the government justify any difference in treatment.

It does not allow indifference to inequality.

Equal protection means that courts must listen not just to the majority,

but also to those who have been historically unheard:

the poor, the excluded, the mistrusted.

It means recognizing that fairness is not always color-blind, gender-blind, or wealth-blind.

Sometimes, fairness requires that we see difference in order to remedy injustice.

“All” means all—not just in theory, but in practice.

Not just at the ballot box, but in the courtroom, the classroom, and the jail cell.

That is the final test of justice:

Not whether it protects the strong,

but whether it stands up for the least among us.

That is what “equal protection” requires.

That is what our Constitution dares to promise.