Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

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The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Usually considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law and was proposed in response to issues related to formerly enslaved Americans following the American Civil War. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by the states of the defeated Confederacy, which were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. The amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954) regarding racial segregation, Loving v. Virginia (1967) regarding interracial marriage, Roe v. Wade (1973) regarding abortion (overturned in 2022), Bush v. Gore (2000) regarding the 2000 presidential election, Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) regarding same-sex marriage, and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) regarding race-based college admissions. The amendment limits the actions of all state and local officials, and also those acting on behalf of such officials.

The amendment's first section includes the Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause broadly defines citizenship, superseding the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which had held that Americans descended from African slaves could not be U.S. citizens. Since an 1873 decision, the Privileges or Immunities Clause has been interpreted to do little. The Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without a fair procedure; the Supreme Court has ruled that this clause makes most of the Bill of Rights as applicable to the states as it is to the federal government, as well as to recognize substantive and procedural requirements that state laws must satisfy. The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction. This clause has been the basis for many decisions rejecting discrimination against people belonging to various groups.

The second, third, and fourth sections of the amendment are seldom litigated. The second section's reference to "rebellion, or other crime" has been invoked as a constitutional ground for felony disenfranchisement. The third section discusses disqualification from office for engaging in insurrection or rebellion; the 2024 decision in Trump v. Anderson (regarding president Donald Trump's actions during the January 6 Capitol attack) held that Congress determines eligibility for federal offices, while state governments only do so for state offices. The fourth section was held, in Perry v. United States (1935), to prohibit Congress from dismissing a contract of debt incurred by a prior Congress. The fifth section gives Congress the power to enforce the amendment's provisions by "appropriate legislation", but under City of Boerne v. Flores (1997), not to the extent of contradicting Supreme Court decisions interpreting the amendment.

The Reconstruction Amendments are interpreted as being intentionally designed to expand federal power and reduce states' rights.^[1][2][3]