U.S. v. Virginia Supreme Court Case
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1995 Supreme Court Case concerning women’s admission to Virginia Military Institute
Excerpt Transcript
Measuring the record in this case against the review standard just described, we conclude that Virginia has shown no “exceedingly persuasive justification” for excluding all women from the citizen-soldier training afforded by VMI. We therefore affirm the Fourth Circuit’s initial judgment, which held that Virginia had violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Because the remedy proffered by Virginia-the Mary Baldwin VWIL program-does not cure the constitutional violation, i. e., it does not provide equal opportunity, we reverse the Fourth Circuit’s final judgment in this case.
Questions
Why did the U.S. government sue the state of Virginia?
What did the Supreme Court rule in U.S. v. Virginia?
How did this ruling advance civil rights?