Should Gingers Receive Heightened Scrutiny as “Discrete and Insular Minorities” Under Footnote Four?

December 12th, 2011

Jason Mazzone wonders:

This, I suspect, is because my students have watched the South Park episode, “Ginger Kids,” in which Eric Cartman announces that redheads suffer from “Gingervitis” and have no souls.

When, however, I poll the class to ask who should be on the list and who off it, there is always an overwhelmingly majority against including redheads/gingers on the footnote 4 list.

But perhaps my class majority is too hasty. Today at the Yale Law School there is the following event sponsored by the American Constitution Society:

Are Redheads a Suspect Class?

Are redheads protected by the 14th Amendment? Join ACS for a lively student discussion on the reach of the Equal Protection Clause, moderated by a very special guest.

How could someone with a soul be discrete and insular?