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An Absolute Deprivation Of Liberty: Why Indigents’ Wealth-Based Discrimination Claims Brought Under The Equal Protection Clause Should Be Subject To Intermediate Scrutiny, Athena Hernandez

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment argues that wealth-based discrimination claims concerning pretrial detention of indigents should be analyzed under an Equal Protection framework and subjected to intermediate scrutiny. In order to provide an overview of the Supreme Court precedent established for these types of claims, Part I of this Comment will discuss the relevant and historic Supreme Court cases which have analyzed wealth-based incarceration claims in the United States. To further establish how Federal Courts have treated wealth-based incarceration Equal Protection claims, Part II will discuss the Fifth Circuit’s relevant opinions. Part III outlines the court’s decision in Walker, discussing how the …