Also known as: racial classifications · race classification
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A governmental distinction drawn on the basis of race. Such classifications trigger strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause regardless of whether they confer burdens or benefits and regardless of whether they are imposed by federal, state, or local governments.
Riverstone Manufacturing bids on a federal satellite contract but loses because the agency awards the work only to firms with majority ownership by members of designated racial groups. The company sues, arguing the ownership rule cannot survive the required review. The court applies strict scrutiny to the explicit racial line and asks whether the government can prove a compelling interest and narrow tailoring.
Rina Rahman, a South Asian woman, and Ryan Roberts, a white man, apply for a marriage license in a state that refuses licenses to interracial couples. They challenge the denial in federal court. The court subjects the racial barrier to the most rigid scrutiny and holds that no legitimate purpose independent of invidious discrimination can justify it.
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Ronald Reed, a state job applicant, challenges a veterans hiring preference that disproportionately excludes minority candidates. He claims the ostensibly neutral rule functions as a pretext for racial discrimination. The court examines whether the preference can be explained on grounds other than race and therefore requires strict scrutiny.
Rita Russell and Roger Ramirez, an interracial couple, seek state recognition of their out-of-state marriage for tax and benefits purposes. The state refuses on the ground that the marriage crosses racial lines. The court treats the refusal as a racial classification that must meet the most rigid scrutiny and cannot stand absent a purpose independent of invidious discrimination.
Renata Russo, a Black defendant, objects when the prosecutor uses peremptory strikes to remove all prospective jurors of her race. She argues the strikes rest on racial classifications that violate equal protection. The court holds that a defendant has standing to challenge such classifications even when the excluded jurors are not parties.
Riverfront Developments donates to a public university that automatically awards a fixed number of admission points solely to applicants from specified racial minority groups. An applicant denied admission challenges the mechanical racial boost. The court subjects the point system to strict scrutiny and finds it fails narrow tailoring because it does not provide individualized consideration.
Yes. All governmental racial classifications, whether they confer burdens or benefits, are subject to strict scrutiny. The government must show a compelling interest and narrow tailoring regardless of the direction of the preference.
A plan constitutes a facial racial classification when race is the predominant factor in drawing district lines and traditional districting principles are subordinated. Bizarre shapes or other evidence that race drove the lines trigger strict scrutiny even without an express racial label.
No. Broad spending power does not exempt racial classifications from strict scrutiny. The state must still prove a compelling interest, typically remedying its own past discrimination, and show narrow tailoring.
Yes. When a facially neutral rule is an obvious pretext for racial discrimination or cannot be explained on grounds other than race, courts treat it as a racial classification subject to strict scrutiny.
…treatment of interracial couples. It stated: “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause.” 388 U.S., at 12. With this link to equal protection the Court proceeded to hold the prohibition offended central precepts of…