ABSTRACT
Suspect classifications involve laws enacted or presumed to be enacted with intent to discriminate against a specific class or group of people. Most laws are enacted to achieve reasonable public policy goals. The concept of suspect classifications evolved from perhaps the most famous footnote in constitutional history. The Court defined the criteria for inclusion in a suspect classification in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. The protection extended suspect classifications requires proof of intent to discriminate. The Court's equal protection jurisprudence is controversial, and groups have tried to move under the protective umbrella of suspect classifications. In the 1960s, the Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren added alienage to the category of suspect classifications, but the Court does not always use the strict-scrutiny test for this category of cases. Religion is considered a suspect classification, although there have been no Supreme Court cases defining it as such.
