Philadelphia Blog Post- Sarah Parisien

How does what happens to “Andrew Beckett” in Philadelphia violate the 14th

Amendment?

Andrew Beckett, a homosexual man with AIDS was a lawyer in Philadelphia. He decided to hide both of those from his employers due to the fear of prejudice that people who are gay and/or have AIDS get bestowed on them. Andrew was a phenomenal lawyer, who was kind to all of his colleagues, but as soon as the found out that he had AIDS and that he was gay, they fired him. The 14th Amendment says that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States...nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” By firing Andrew for the reasons they did, his privileges are abridged and further implies that the equal protection of the law, that’s supposed to guarantee him equal rights are being violated because of the way he identifies himself.

How does the advent (arrival) of same-sex marriage speak to “due process” and
“equal protection” under the 14th Amendment?

Within the 14 Amendment, due process is made up of two parts; procedural due process and substantive due process.  Procedural law is supposed to guarantee fairness to all individuals, and the more important that right is the stricter the procedural process must be. This process is guaranteed when someone is denied “life, liberty or property”. The substantive due process normally deals with specific areas, such as liberty or privacy in the states’ jurisdiction. Equal protection is the idea that the government can’t deny people equal protection of its laws. The government must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances. In terms of same-sex marriage, the 14th amendment is supposed to guarantee fairness for all people, yet people in the LGBTQ+ community were discriminated against (like Andy when he was fired for being gay and having AIDS) just because of how they identified. Before the arrival of same-sex marriage, people who identified as so were being denied the liberty that the 14th amendment is supposed to protect, which eliminates their equal protection. Obergefell v. Hodges recognized this inequality and argued for the right to same-sex marriage in court and with that, there was finally protection for people who don’t identify as the “norm”.

Philadelphia Blog Post - Jack Rutstein

Andrew Beckett was a former lawyer at a Philly law firm who was suspiciously fired shortly after being promoted by the CEOs of the firm. It is suspected and clear that he was fired for not telling his bosses that he had a deadly disease AIDS. This is typically contracted through sex and is typically found in gay men, something Andrew Beckett also did not disclose to his bosses. The deal here, though, is the fact that HE DID NOT need to disclose this. The fact the law firm fired him because of solely this is a violation of the 14th Amendment. It clearly denies the equal protection of the law discussed in the amendment. Then, Beckett went to court, although he won, his inevitable death was shortly after.

Philadelphia Blog Post - Liana Wallace

Prompt 1

Andrew Beckett a lawyer at a highly acclaimed law firm who was abruptly fired after being promoted by the lead partners of the firm to a special account for not disclosing his conception of the deadly disease of AIDS is a violation of the 14th Amendment. This is a direct violation of the  14th Amendment because it denied Mr. Beckett “equal protection of the law”. Under law no citizen is obligated to share a sickness that they have at their place of work therefore Andrew Beckett having aids was his business and his business alone. Having this understanding under the 14th amendment the partners deciding to fire Mr.Beckett so soon after his promotion is either an act of prejudice against those people ill with aids or a lack of understanding of United States law which must be addressed and corrected under law.

Prompt #2

In the Obergefell v Hodges case, “14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased, filed suits in Federal District Courts in their home States, claiming that respondent state officials violate the Fourteenth Amendment by denying them the right to marry or to have marriages lawfully performed in another State given full recognition” (Obergefell v Hodges). In the Obergefell v. Hodges case the “Court ruled that under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection for all citizens, states must recognize same-sex marriage and can no longer prohibit gay and lesbian couples from getting married, or refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state.”(Obergefell v Hodges). As a result of the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which protects, “fundamental rights” such as the right to marry including the protection of “individual rights from interference by the state's” same-sex couples gained the right to legally marry and have their matrimony be recognized as such across state borders (Chapman).