the fourteenth amended of the united states constitution was passed after the civil war to provide equal protection to freed slaves under the law and to protect them from discriminatory behavior by the government. However, since then, the equal protection clause has been extended to prevent discriminatory action bay the government against other races, as well as gender discrimination. One principle stated by the modern court regarding this amendment has been "the invidious quality of a law claimed to be racially discriminatory must ultimately be traced to a racially discriminatory purpose...governmental action is not unconstitutional Wiley because it has a disproportional impact." read only this far, marijuana laws would not be considered unconstitutional despite the fact that Black men are admitted to state prisons on drug convictions at rates 13.4 times higher than white men, and in 2006, 44.2% of drug inmates were black, 27.1% white and 20% Hispanic, despite the statistic that In 2008, illicit drug use by blacks were 10.1%, whites were 8.5%, and 6.2% for Hispanics. However "discriminatory purpose May be shown by data regarding administration of a law, not merely by a disadvantaging racial classification on the face of the law. Moreover, a law neutral in language and application may have been enacted with a purpose or motive to discriminate."
