United States v. Virginia et al., 518 U.S. 515 (1996)

"Equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society."

Virginia, 1990. The Virginia Military Institute, VMI, aims to produce "citizen-soldiers," men who can lead in war and peace. Alumni include generals, U.S. Congressmen, and prominent businessmen. All men. VMI is Virginia's only single-sex state school. No women need apply.

A high-school girl does apply. When she's turned down, she complains. VMI is a state college -- a government institution. The United States charges the state of Virginia with violating the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

In 1996, the Supreme Court declares unconstitutional VMI's policy, and any law which, writes Justice Ginsburg, "denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature -- equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society."

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Admissions Requirements Virginia Military Institute

AMENDMENT 14 Due Process and Equal Protection of the Law

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [^].

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