Reed v. Reed

Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Idaho law gave men preference over women when appointing administrators of estates. Sally Reed challenged the law after being denied appointment as administrator of her deceased son’s estate in favor of her estranged husband. She argued the law violated the Equal Protection Clause.

Significance

Chief Justice Burger’s unanimous opinion struck down the Idaho law as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. For the first time, the Court held that a law discriminating on the basis of sex was unconstitutional. The Court applied the rational basis test but found the law’s administrative convenience insufficient to justify gender discrimination. Reed marked the beginning of the Court’s modern sex discrimination jurisprudence and led to the development of intermediate scrutiny in Craig v. Boren (1976).

Category

US Federal Case Law