EQUAL PROTECTION - Bill of Rights T-Shirt

EQUAL PROTECTION

Two people walk into a courthouse.

One arrives in a tailored suit, carrying a briefcase that costs more than a used car. The other has taken three buses to get there and is still wearing the uniform from a night shift.

The Constitution has something to say about both of them.

And it has nothing to do with their wardrobes.

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment establishes that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Notice the word person.

Not citizen. Not taxpayer. Not property owner. Not someone who knows the judge's brother.

Person.

It's a remarkably small word to carry such an enormous responsibility.

Of course, putting that principle into practice has occupied generations of lawyers, judges, legislators, and ordinary Americans. Questions of racial discrimination, voting rights, marriage, education, and countless other matters have found their way into courtrooms under those few words.

And the arguments are rarely simple.

EQUAL PROTECTION celebrates the constitutional principle that the law must not draw unjustified distinctions between people, however different their circumstances may be.

It doesn't promise everyone the same life, the same opportunities, or even the same outcome in court. It requires government distinctions between people to satisfy constitutional standards of justification, with especially demanding scrutiny in certain cases.

Which is a considerably more complicated undertaking than simply putting a blindfold on a statue.

But then, nobody ever said justice was supposed to be easy.

Only that it must be pursued according to the law.

An original BIENTEVEO design for the lawyers, advocates, students, and defenders of civil rights who understand that equal protection isn't a decorative phrase carved into a courthouse wall. It's a constitutional obligation.

The T-Shirt

Made from 100% ring-spun cotton, the Comfort Colors 1717 garment-dyed T-shirt has a soft-washed feel and relaxed fit designed for comfortable everyday wear. Garment dyeing gives the fabric its distinctive lived-in character, while durable construction makes this a shirt intended to be worn often.

• 100% ring-spun cotton
• Soft-washed, garment-dyed fabric
• Relaxed fit
• Double-needle stitching throughout for added durability
• Seamless tubular construction with no side seams
• Designed to retain its shape through regular wear