Equal Protection Quotes:

All marriages are same sex marriages. You get married and every night, it's the same sex.

- Bill Maher

source: Bill Maher (2006). “New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer”, p.113, Rodale

topic: Funny, Sex, Humorous, Equal Protection, Hamsters

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.

- Thomas Jefferson

topic: Freedom, Patriotic, Equality, Majority And Minority, Minority Government

All distinctions of birth or of rank have been abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed upon terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights and equal protection.

- James K. Polk

topic: Rights, Citizens, Birth, Equal Protection

The guarantee of equal protection cannot mean one thing when applied to one individual and something else when applied to a person of another color. If both are not accorded the same protection, then it is not equal.

- Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

topic: Mean, Color, Guarantees, Equal Protection

As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society.

- Sonia Sotomayor

source: "Michigan's ban on affirmative action upheld by Supreme Court" By Bill Mears, www.cnn.com. April 23, 2014.

topic: Wish, Guarantees, Our Society, Intervening, Equal Protection

Laws that require equal protections reinforce the moral imperative of equality.

- Hillary Clinton

source: International Human Rights Day Address at Palais des Nations, delivered 6 December 2011, Geneva, Switzerland

topic: Law, Lgbt, Moral, Equal Protection

As Harry Blackmun said when he wrote Roe v. Wade, `Once a child is born, the child has basic constitutional rights: due process, equal protection of the laws.'

- Nat Hentoff

source: Source: thedailyhatch.org

topic: Children, Law, Rights, Due Process, Equal Protection

America is the promised land, because each generation bequeathed to its children a promise, a promise that they might not come to enjoy but which they fully expected their offspring to fulfill. So the words 'all men are created equal' took a life of its own, ultimately destined to end slavery and enfranchise women. And the words 'equal protection' and 'due process' inevitably led to the end of the words 'separate but equal,' ensuring that the walls of segregation would crumble, whether at the lunch counter or at the voting booth.

- Joe Biden

source: Joe Biden (2007). “Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics”, p.192, Random House

topic: Children, Wall, Men, Separate But Equal, Equal Protection

My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These are ties which, though light as air, are as strong as links of iron.

- Edmund Burke

source: Edmund Burke (2005). “Burke, Select Works”, p.231, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

topic: Strong, Names, Iron, Equal Protection

The equal protection standard of the constitution has one clear and central meaning - it absolutely prohibits invidious [repugnant] discrimination by government...Under our Constitution, any official action that treats a person differently on account of his race or ethnic origin is inherently [by nature] suspect and presumptively [probably] invalid...Under the Constitution we have, one practice in which government may never engage in the practice of racism - not even "temporarily" and not even as an "experiment."

- Potter Stewart

topic: Race, Government, Practice, Equal Protection

Lately the First Amendment has been interpreted to deny equal protection of the law to those who believe in God. The Constitution established freedom for religion, not freedom from religion!

- Jack Kemp

topic: Christian, Religious, Believe, Equal Protection, Freedom Of Religion

We must have our freedom now. We must have the right to vote. We must have equal protection of the law.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

topic: Law, Vote, Protection, Equal Protection

What is the American dream? The American dream is one big tent. One big tent. And on that big tent you have four basic promises: equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, and fair share.

- Jesse Jackson

topic: Dream, Opportunity, Law, Fair Share, Equal Protection

Full participation in government and society has been a basic right of the country symbolizing the full citizenship and equal protection of all.

- Charles Rangel

topic: Country, Government, Citizenship, Equal Protection

The First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights in the United States Constitution were being violated in Albany again and again - freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the equal protection of the laws - I could count at least 30 such violations. Yet the president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, and all the agencies of the United States government at his disposal, were nowhere to be seen.

- Howard Zinn

source: "You Can't Be Neutral on A Moving Train". Book by Howard Zinn (Ch. 4: "My Name is Freedom": Albany, Georgia), 1994.

topic: Agency, Rights, Government, Albany, Equal Protection

If some individuals contribute to general social deterioration by overproducing children, and if the need is compelling, they can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility — just as they can be required to exercise responsibility in their resource-consumption patterns — providing they are not denied equal protection

- John Holdren

topic: Children, Responsibility, Exercise, Equal Protection

Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states.

- Barack Obama

topic: Sex, Pride, Gay, Clauses, Gay Pride

It wouldn't be fair to say that conservatives cherish property the way liberals cherish equality. But it would be fair to say that the takings clause is the conservatives recipe for judicial activism just as they say liberals have misused the equal protection clause.

- Michael Kinsley

topic: Equality, Would Be, Recipes, Judicial Activism, Clauses

When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.

- Harvey Fierstein

topic: Gay, Sacrifice, Law, Unfairness, Equal Protection

It's time to recognize that under the equal protection clause of the United States [Constitution], same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else.

- Barack Obama

source: "Obama: Axelrod 'mixing up' gay marriage stance" By Jeremy Diamond, Eric Bradner, www.cnn.com. February 11, 2015.

topic: Sex, Couple, Should Have, Clauses, Equal Protection

There is no proportional representation requirement in the Equal Protection Clause

- Cass Sunstein

topic: Requirements, Protection, Equal, Clauses, Equal Protection

History has shown us that, on extraordinarily rare occasions, it becomes necessary for the federal government to intervene on behalf of individuals whose 14th Amendment rights to legal due process and equal protection may be violated by a state.

- Michael K. Simpson

topic: Rights, Government, May, Due Process, 14th Amendment

When the 14th Amendment, equal protection clause was enacted, the galleries in the Senate were segregated. Now we have integration.

- Arlen Specter

source: "Interview with Senator Arnold Specter". Interview with Bob Schieffer, www.realclearpolitics.com. May 3, 2009.

topic: Protection, Gallery, Amendments, 14th Amendment, Equal Protection

There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.

- Andrew Jackson

source: Veto Message on Bank Bill, 10 July 1832

topic: Patriotic, Government, Evil, Necessary Evil, Veto

There are a few instances that arise in the unique context of domestic equal-protection challenges to governmental actions that are facially neutral but produce substantial discriminatory impacts on groups of people, based on such suspect classifications as race, nationality, ethnic origin, etc. This doctrine has never been used in foreign affairs.

- David B. Rivkin

source: "Is President Trump’s executive order constitutional?" by David B. Rivkin Jr., Karen Tumlin and James Downie, davidbrivkin.com. February 6, 2017.

topic: Unique, Impact, Race, Equal Protection, Foreign Affairs

The power granted the Attorney General to intervene in all equal-protection-of-the-law cases is extremely broad and dangerous. Choices made by the Attorney General could follow a political and selected pattern.

- John Sparkman

topic: Law, Political, Choices, Choices Made, Equal Protection

New Rule: Gay marriage won't lead to dog marriage. It is not a slippery slope to rampant inter-species coupling. When women got the right to vote, it didn't lead to hamsters voting. No court has extended the equal protection clause to salmon. And for the record, all marriages are "same sex" marriages. You get married, and every night, it's the same sex.

- Bill Maher

source: "Limbaugh – ‘When WOMEN Got The Right To Vote Is When It All Went Downhill’" by Kimberley Johnson, www.addictinginfo.org. July 4, 2012.

topic: Dog, Sex, Gay, Equal Protection, Hamsters

We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws. Civil marriage is one of the cornerstones of our way of life. It allows individuals to celebrate and publicly declare their intentions to form lifelong partnerships, which provide unparalleled intimacy, companionship, emotional support, and security.

- Henry Franklin Floyd

source: "Reviewing The 4 Gay Marriage Cases The High Court Tacitly Endorsed" by Eyder Peralta, www.npr.org. October 6, 2014.

topic: Sex, Couple, Gay, Emotional Support, Equal Protection

NoH8 on the Hill, NoH8 anywhere. No American, regardless of who they love, should be denied equal protection under the law. History is on our side and our march towards justice will prevail.

- Xavier Becerra

source: "‘NOH8 on the Hill III’ Draws Support From 67 Members of Congress" by Laurence Watts, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 24, 2013.

topic: Law, Justice, Sides, Justice Will Prevail, Equal Protection

The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

- Michael Kinsley

topic: Fifth Amendment, Protection, Amendments, Clauses, Equal Protection

What is so powerful here is that we have the first federal appellate court and it's a case coming out of Utah affirming in the strongest, clearest, boldest terms that the Constitution guarantees the freedom to marry and equal protection for all Americans and all means all, including gay couples.

- Evan Wolfson

topic: Powerful, Couple, Mean, Equal Protection, Gay Couples

Well-established Supreme Court precedents indicate that states - like the states of Washington and Minnesota - have no equal-protection rights of their own, nor can they vindicate equal-protection rights of their citizens. The same is true about being able to challenge alleged religious discrimination. This limitation on the states' authority to champion such claims is fundamental to our separation-of-powers architecture.

- David B. Rivkin

source: "Is President Trump’s executive order constitutional?". www.washingtonpost.com. February 6, 2017.

topic: Religious, Rights, Champion, Equal Protection

Gay and lesbian people are equal. They deserve equal protection of the laws, and they deserve it now.

- Donald Verrilli Jr.

source: "If SCOTUS Decides in Favor of Marriage Equality, Thank Solicitor General Don Verrilli" by Mark Joseph Stern, www.slate.com. April 29, 2015.

topic: Gay, Law, People, Equal Protection

Civil union is less than marriage. Marriage is a sacred and valued institution and ought to be afforded equal protection.

- James McGreevey

topic: Unions, Sacred, Protection, Equal Protection

The Supreme Court had the choice not only which way to rule, pro- or anti-gay marriage rights, but also how they were going to rule. They could have ruled just federalism, saying, "This isn't a matter for federal; this isn't a federal issue at all. States should decide it." Or they could decide it on equal protection grounds and say that, "Gay discrimination is wrong."

- Barack Obama

topic: Gay, Issues, Rights, All State, Equal Protection

Every lynching deprives its victim of his life without due process of law, and denies him an equal protection of the law. The States are charged with punishing all such invasions as the common rights of the citizens, but some of them have failed in their effort to do so, and others have not honestly tried. Meanwhile, lynchings continue, and though they do not increase in number, they show some tendency to increase in savagery.

- H. L. Mencken

topic: Rights, Lynching, Law, Savagery, Due Process Of Law

Neither federal nor state government acts compatibly with equal protection when a law or official policy denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature - equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society based on their individual talents and capacities.

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

topic: Opportunity, Government, Law, Individual Talent, Equal Protection

The legal bias for special protection for women has begun to wreak havoc with the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

- Warren Farrell

topic: Special, Guarantees, Constitution, Equal Protection