The 14th Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has become a fundamental pillar of our modern democracy. From this vital amendment, which guarantees equal protection for all citizens under the law, the United States has been able to progress and fortify the rights of its people through an array of legal issues and moral circumstances. Because of the establishment of this amendment, the civil rights of all people have been guaranteed; this notion has gained powerful legal status and is the basis of many Supreme Court cases concerning civil rights. However, the amendment itself means nothing without the application by the people of whom it was written. While this amendment provides equal protection under the law for all people, it does not guarantee that state laws or initiatives will always abide by it first. In the case of Loving v Virginia and in the 2008 California Proposition 8 vote, the spirit of the Fourteenth Amendment is evident. While the Loving v Virginia case prevailed in the Supreme Court under the elements of ‘equal protection under the law,’ Proposition 8 has yet to be decided in the Supreme Court despite sharing very similar components as the case from nearly 50 years prior. Both of these cases pioneer a new wave of social awareness for minority groups seeking to gain equal legal protection under the law in the pursuit of happiness.

            In Loving v Virginia, an interracial couple fought for their marriage to gain legal recognition despite the law of Virginia stating that, at that time, interracial marriage was illegal. Because the law fell under the “Racial Integrity Act of 1924,” passed by the Virginia State Legislature, there was no meaningful Civil Rights legislation at the time to protect the state’s people from this blatantly discriminate piece of legislation. It wasn’t until 1967, with this case, that the Fourteenth Amendment was used in a court of law to defend the couple and similar couples nation-wide. Because the Fourteenth Amendment was written out of the Reconstruction Era, it dealt primarily with the protection of racial minorities. ‘Equal protection under the law’ includes all races and, thus, an interracial couple’s marriage is just as valid as any other couples’. This case dealt with the law protecting everyone’s basic freedom to live in the pursuit of happiness; however nearly fifty years later in 2008, there continues to be challenges to this basic principle.

            In 2008, California held a vote on Proposition 8 which sought to bring equality to the gay community of the state in the realm of marriage. The result of the vote was unsuccessful for the gay marriage movement; yet, the principles of the case are strikingly similar to Loving v Virginia in respect to two individuals unable to commit to each other because of discriminatory measures of the state prohibiting marriage. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, the people of California (regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and in every other state are guaranteed equal protection under the law. If heterosexuals are able to marry, from a legal standpoint, homosexuals should be too. Equal protection under the law knows no boundaries; in the 1960s, the Loving case wiped out an outdated state law based on the Fourteenth Amendment and its application to marriage. In 2010, this standard has every right to be applied again. After nearly 50 years of Civil Rights legislation being enacted on behalf of a racial minority, it is completely plausible that the Fourteenth Amendment can be used to justify the rights of other minorities as well.

            The two cases of Loving v Virginia and Proposition 8 both demonstrate a fundamental right of all citizens to pursue happiness and marry a person of their choosing. With Loving, discriminatory legislation on the basis of race was the barrier for the couple. With the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court struck down the law of Virginia and guaranteed the rights of the people of Virginia with regard to marriage. In California, the issue of marriage continues to be a battle with the gay community who is fighting to get equal protection under the law. With application of the Fourteenth Amendment the gay community of California may be able to solidify their rights for marriage in the Supreme Court on the basis of ‘equal protection under the law.’ Whether it be a racial factor or the issue of sexual orientation, the institution of marriage remains a tradition that, legally, should be accessible to all people.