equal protection
Defined in 1 dictionary — Case Law
Definitions from Case Law
From 404 U.S. 71 - Reed v. Reed · 1971Most cited · 3,649 citing opinions
The Equal Protection Clause of that amendment does, however, deny to States the power to legislate that different treatment be accorded to persons placed by a statute into different classes on the basis of criteria wholly unrelated to the objective of that statute. A classification 'must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.