American Government / Unit 3 Gov 121 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Equal Protection Clause
Captions available
The idea
The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids states to deny any person the equal protection of the laws.
In practice
The clause is the constitutional home of most civil rights claims.
Where people slip
Equal protection binds states by text; parallel doctrine reaches the national government through Fifth Amendment due process.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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