This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff.
Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu.


     SEX DISCRIMINATION AND THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT:
                     DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LAW

INTRODUCTION

The United States Supreme Court's treatment of gender-based
discrimination from 1971 to the present reveals the Court's attempt
to clarify what has been an uncertain and rapidly changing area of
the law. Challenges in the sex discrimination context have been
based on statutory and constitutional grounds. Cases heard and
decided by the Supreme Court involving constitutional challenges
under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment and
the equal protection component of the fifth amendment have, over
time, led to a clarification of the level of judicial review
applied by the Court in this area, and the nature of proof required
to establish a violation. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,
as amended, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which
focus on discrimination in employment and education respectively,
have provided the primary statutory bases for sex discrimination
questions heard by the Supreme Court. The Court itself has
indicated that the Constitution and statutes like Title VII are not
to be interpreted as having the same effect. An examination of the
Court's decisions with regard to gender discrimination during this
eighteen year period, in terms of both constitutional and statutory
analysis, illustrates how the Supreme Court has progressed in
developing and clarifying this aspect of the law.

In order to present a clear picture of the development of the law
in the sex discrimination area, this review of pertinent Supreme
Court cases is primarily presented chronologically. However, in
certain instances, chronological order has been disregarded and
cases analyzed by subject matter to facilitate an understanding of
trends in the Court's analysis.(1)