Frontiero v. Richardson

E88590

Frontiero v. Richardson is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that advanced gender equality by striking down federal benefit rules that discriminated against female military service members.

All labels observed (5)

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Statements (53)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
gender equality case
landmark case
appliedToStatesOrFederal federal government
areaOfLaw civil rights law
constitutional law
military law
arguedDate 1972-01-17
citation 36 L. Ed. 2d 583
411 U.S. 677
93 S. Ct. 1764
concurringInJudgmentBy Harry A. Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Potter Stewart
concurringOpinionBy Harry A. Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Potter Stewart
constitutionalProvision Due Process Clause
surface form: Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause
country United States of America
surface form: United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1973-05-14
defendant Elliot Richardson
surface form: Elliot L. Richardson
defendantOffice United States Secretary of Defense
surface form: Secretary of Defense of the United States
didNotParticipate Warren E. Burger
surface form: Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
dissentingOpinionBy William H. Rehnquist
docketNumber 71-1694
fullCaseName Frontiero v. Richardson self-linksurface differs
surface form: Sharron A. Frontiero et al. v. Elliot L. Richardson, Secretary of Defense, et al.
holding Statutory scheme that treated male and female service members differently for spousal benefits violated equal protection principles embodied in the Fifth Amendment
The federal government may not require female service members to prove their spouses’ dependency while granting male service members automatic dependency status for their wives
impact limited the use of sex-based presumptions in federal benefit programs
joinedByInPlurality Byron R. White
Thurgood Marshall
William O. Douglas
jurisdiction federal
legalIssue equal protection
federal military benefits
gender discrimination
majorityOpinionBy William J. Brennan Jr.
plaintiff Joseph Frontiero
Sharron A. Frontiero
pluralityOpinionBy William J. Brennan Jr.
precedentStatus binding on all lower federal courts
rearguedDate 1972-10-17
relatedCase Craig v. Boren
Reed v. Reed
United States v. Virginia (1996) majority opinion
surface form: United States v. Virginia
significance advanced gender equality in U.S. constitutional law
one of the first Supreme Court cases to apply heightened scrutiny to sex-based classifications
standardOfReviewDiscussed strict scrutiny for sex-based classifications
standardOfReviewOutcome no single standard of review commanded a majority
subjectMatter military spousal benefits
sex-based classifications
yearDecided 1973

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Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Equal Protection Clause basisFor Frontiero v. Richardson
Reed v. Reed relatedCase Frontiero v. Richardson
Frontiero v. Richardson fullCaseName Frontiero v. Richardson self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Sharron A. Frontiero et al. v. Elliot L. Richardson, Secretary of Defense, et al.
Sharron A. Frontiero participantIn Frontiero v. Richardson
Sharron A. Frontiero roleInEvent Frontiero v. Richardson
this entity surface form: plaintiff in Frontiero v. Richardson
Sharron A. Frontiero associatedCourtCase Frontiero v. Richardson
Sharron A. Frontiero subjectOf Frontiero v. Richardson
this entity surface form: Frontiero v. Richardson decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
Joseph Frontiero participantIn Frontiero v. Richardson
Joseph Frontiero partyTo Frontiero v. Richardson
Joseph Frontiero subjectOf Frontiero v. Richardson
this entity surface form: Frontiero v. Richardson decision