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One of the problems we have today is that the 14th Amendment has been expanded far beyond its intended scope. Liberals, and even many "politically correct" conservatives, think the 14th is a grandiose, sweeping constitutional prohibition against any and all "discrimination". Of course, it's simply taken as a given by these people that all discrimination is bad and unjustified.

In fact, the 14th was intended to be a far more modest amendment. I mentioned in the previous post that it didn't prohibit discrimination against women in voting. It clearly didn't, or there would have been no 19th Amendment five decades after the 14th, and no need for all those years of Suffragette activism and lobbying.

In addition, the 14th didn't grant voting rights to blacks, either. It took the 15th Amendment to do that. Why was there a need for a 15th Amendment if the 14th prohibited any and all discrimination?

In reality, the section of the 14th which guarantees us all the "equal protection of the laws" was intended to have a very small reach. Basically, it was intended to give the freed slaves access to the courts, allowing them to sue and collect legal damages on an equal basis with whites. That's what "equal protection of the laws" meant.

It didn't mean every law had to treat everyone the same, which is why it didn't give blacks or women the vote. It certainly didn't apply to private acts. If a landlord refuses to rent to blacks, there's absolutely nothing in the 14th Amendment to force him to do otherwise. The legislative branch can pass laws to prohibit such discrimination, but they don't have to. It's just their option.

This idea that the 14th Amendment bans all "discrimination" unless the discriminating party can prove to liberal judges that they have a "compelling" reason to discriminate is without constitutional basis. The 14th wasn't intended to force state military academies to admit women, or to require a state to pass a law banning racial discrimination in private employment, or to ban a youth group from using the public parks unless they agree to provide the kids with gay role models.