Law Commons^™

Equal Protection- School Financing System Based On Local Property Taxes Held Unconstitutional

University of Richmond Law Review

The fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution allows unequal protection of the laws, provided such unequal treatment and discrimination bear some rational relationship to a conceivably legitimate state objective. This "rational relationship" test allows the states wide latitude and discretion in enacting legislation. However, where any state statute involves so-called "suspect classifications" or "fundamental interests," the statute will be subjected to a strict scrutiny test, under which the state must establish that there is not only a compelling state interest which justifies the law but also that the distinctions drawn in the statute are necessary to further such interests.