Opinion ID: 679519
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Equal Protection Clause Standards

Text: 18 The final preliminary matter we must address is the standard of equal protection review that governs our analysis. The Fourteenth Amendment provides that No State shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const. amend. XIV. 19 We determine the appropriate standard of equal protection review by examining the nature of the classifications embodied in the statute. We apply strict scrutiny to the Ordinance's race-based preference scheme and thus inquire whether the statute is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. Croson, 488 U.S. at 493-95, 109 S.Ct. at 721-23 (plurality) (adopting strict scrutiny test); id. at 520, 109 S.Ct. at 735-36 (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment) (supporting strict scrutiny standard of plurality). Gender-based classifications, in contrast, are evaluated under the intermediate scrutiny rubric, which provides that the law must be substantially related to an important government objective. Mississippi Univ. for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718, 723-24 & n. 9, 102 S.Ct. 3331, 3335-36, n. 9, 73 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1982); Rowley v. Board of Educ., 863 F.2d 39, 40 (10th Cir.1988). 20