Justice Ginsburg agreed that the law was based on stereotypes that violated equal protection principles. The law, she wrote, was built on a faulty assumption “that unwed fathers care little about, indeed are strangers to, their children.”“Lump characterization of that kind, however, no longer passes equal protection inspection,” Justice Ginsburg wrote. Justice Ginsburg said treating mothers and fathers differently was unjustified. Ordinarily, she wrote, the court would extend the benefits conferred by the statute to the disfavored group. “Everyone agrees that the term embraces the repo man — someone hired by a creditor to collect an outstanding debt,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.

Source: New York Times June 12, 2017 17:35 UTC