abstract:In American jurisprudence, a suspect classification is any classification of groups meeting a series of criteria suggesting they are likely the subject of discrimination. These classes receive closer scrutiny by courts when an Equal Protection claim alleging unconstitutional discrimination is asserted against a law, regulation, or other government action.
First, the Courtrequiredespeciallystrictscrutinyoflegislation that employed a "suspectclassification", meaningdiscriminationagainstagroup on grounds that could be construed asracial.