originalism and sex discrimination

Here is a link to an interesting Slate article on originalism and sex discrimination. The article notes that there recently has been much discussion about the original meaning of the equal protection clause. Last year, Justice Scalia expressed the view that the 14th amendment doesn't prohibit sex discrimination, a position he seemed to disavow in congressional testimony. Steve Calabresi and Julie Rickert have weighed in with a lengthy article in the Texas Law Review. That article argues that the original public meaning of the 14th amendment does ban sex discrimination. The Slate article explores some of the implications that this debate might have on the Perry litigation involving California's Propostion 8.

Richard M.