What is the law that banned discrimination?

Answer 1

Various laws have restricted certain kinds of discrimination in the United States. Like State Legislatures, the Congress of the United States has the power to pass statutes regulating a wide range of activity. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, for example, placed limits on discrimination (among other things) in the workplace and at businesses that are open to the public.

The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States are another source of law because Supreme Court decisions that interpret the Constitution become the supreme law of the land. Responding to various cases and controvercies that have come before it, the Court has repeatedly ruled that no government entity may discriminate on the basis of race without meeting what is called "strict scrutiny." For governmental discrimination on the basis of race to stand, the government must show both a "compelling interest" and show that no less restrictive means would meet that interest. The practical impact of this requirement is that virtually all governmental race discrimination is prohibited. (One important exception is affirmative action.)

The Supreme Court has similarly ruled that no governmental entity may discriminate on the basis of gender without meeting what the Court calls "intermediate scrutiny." In contrast to strict scrutiny, which requires a compelling governmental interest and narrowly tailored means to that end, the intermediate scrutiny test is slightly easier to pass. To pass intermediate scrutiny and permissibly discriminate on the basis of gender, a governmental entitly must prove an important government interest and must prove the means used to reach that end are substantially related to that interest.

While there has not yet been a law that bans all forms of discrimination in all contexts, stautes passed by Congress and rulings of the Supreme Court have worked together to combat many of discrimination's harmful effects.