Sex and Gender Discrimination Law

Sex and Gender Discrimination Law

When it comes to sex and gender discrimination, perception and rational decisions play a major role when trying to establish a nationwide legal standard of what constitutes discrimination. Sex and gender discrimination laws have evolved in the United States since the late 60’s, however, there is a fine line between what is considered right and wrong from a civil and social standpoint, which evidences how controversial this matter is. To understand sex and gender laws nowadays it is important to know its history.

Back in 1969 when Warren Burger was Chief Justice, discrimination cases under the equal protection clause of the Constitution were reviewed by the Supreme Court by a two-tiered system. If the law suits involved classifications based on race, the Supreme Court applied the “upper-tier” review. The classifications that were considered “suspect” were scrutinized “strictly” and were presumed invalid unless the government could show that the classifications were “necessary to a compelling state interest” and that there were no other alternatives to reach the state’s objective. The "lower tier" included all other legislative classifications. (Williams,1984).

According to Williams this standard worked like an electrical