equal protection of the laws

Cultural  

1. A phrase in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requiring that states guarantee the same rights, privileges, and protections to all citizens. This doctrine reinforces that of due process of law and prevents states from passing or enforcing laws that arbitrarily discriminate against anyone.

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Example Sentences

The orders fulfill the constitutional requirement of equal protection of the laws, forbidding government from treating people differently based on race.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

Supreme Court to review their claim that two state court justices, by their participation in the opinion, violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 8, 2024

What it does say is that no person shall be denied "equal protection of the laws."

From Salon • Jul. 5, 2023

He said it did not violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws nor Title IX, the education law that forbids discrimination based on sex.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2023

Hopkins, the Supreme Court had recognized that racially selective enforcement violates equal protection of the laws.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander