Id., at 347. 1995); N. J. Stat. The people of Colorado have adopted an entirely reasonable provision which does not even disfavor homosexuals in any substantive sense, but merely denies them preferential treatment. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. were Rod-, erick M. Hills, Jr., Matthew Coles, Steven R. Shapiro, Clyde J. Wadsworth, Suzanne B. Goldberg, Jeanne Winer, Gregory A. Eurich, David H. Miller, Darlene M. Ebert, Joseph N. de Raismes III, and Walter A. Smith, Jr. John P. Worcester and Edward M. Caswall filed a brief for respondents City of Aspen et al. It is a fair, if not necessary, inference from the broad language of the amendment that it deprives gays and lesbians even of the protection of general laws and policies that prohibit arbitrary discrimination in governmental and private settings. Stat. 1995), which this passage authoritatively declares not to be affected by Amendment 2, was respondents' primary. "[1], Finding that "laws of the kind now before us raise the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected," the Court inferred that the passage of Amendment 2 was born of a "bare ... desire to harm a politically unpopular group". Timothy M. … Regarding the Equal Protection Clause, Amar wrote:[29]. They agreed with the Colorado Supreme Court's finding that the amendment could not survive this standard of scrutiny. Kennedy, joined by Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, Regarding the Court's earlier decision in, This page was last edited on 15 October 2020, at 13:59. Prof. JUSTICE SCALIA, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and JUSTICE THOMAS join, dissenting. Still, Amar asserted that Amendment 2 violated the Equal Protection Clause (although he preferred an alternative argument based on the Attainder Clause). Timothy M. Tymkovich, Solicitor General of Colorado, argued the cause for petitioners. They can obtain specific protection against discrimination only by enlisting the citizenry of Colorado to amend the State Constitution or perhaps, on the State's view, by trying to pass helpful laws of general applicability. Romer v. Evans (1996) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that dealt with sexual orientation and the Colorado State Constitution. The amendment was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996. For example, a social harm may have been a legitimate concern of government for reasons quite apart from discrimination .... See, e. g., ... Davis v. Beason, 133 U. S. 333 (1890)." We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. The Equal Protection Clause enforces this principle and today requires us to hold invalid a provision of Colorado's Constitution. 3, 2017. Call us or submit your legal questions online. Scream Instagram, If this consequence follows from Amendment 2, as its broad language suggests, it would compound the constitutional difficulties the law creates. This reading of the amendment's language is implausible. 1261, p. 41. Amendment 2 to the Colorado state constitution, which was passed into law by a voter initiative in 1992, provided that no city, town, or county in the state could recognize homosexuals as a protected class through any statute, regulation, ordinance, or policy entitling them to quota preferences, minority status, or claims of discrimination.
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