United States v. Virginia

518 U.S. 515 Supreme Court 1996

Theexclusion of women fromeducational opportunitiesisonce again, thedecisiontodenyrights or opportunities based onsex discrimination.our Nationdeniedto women, simply because they are women,equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society … concurring in judgment) (case law evolving since 1971 "reveals a strong presumption that gender classifications are invalid"). To summarize the Court's current directions for cases of official classification based on gender: Focusing on the differential treatment or denial of opportunity for which relief is sought, the reviewing court must determine whether the proffered justification is "exceedingly persuasive." The burden of justification is demanding and it rests entirely on the State. See Mississippi Univ. for Women, 458

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In 1990, the United States filed a suit against Virginia and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for enforcing an all-male admissions policy. The Supreme Court ruled that VMI's male-only admissions policy lacked an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

VMI had attempted to establish a comparable school for women, but in Justice Ginsburg’s words, it was “a pale shadow of VMI in terms of the range of curricular choices and faculty stature, funding, prestige, alumni support and influence.”

The ruling set a strong precedent for equal opportunity cases for women. In May 2021, VMI welcomed Cadet Casey Meredith as its first woman commander of the Corps of Cadets; the first in the school's 182 year history.