In Shelley v. Kraemer, the decision relied on which constitutional principle?

• A. First Amendment freedom of religion
• B. Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause
• C. Fifth Amendment due process
• D. Tenth Amendment states' rights

Answer: (B)

The central idea here is how the Constitution limits state involvement in discriminatory actions. In Shelley v. Kraemer, the Supreme Court held that using state courts to enforce racially restrictive covenants amounts to state action that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. When a state’s judicial system enforces a private agreement that excludes people because of race, the state is effectively sanctioning discrimination, which the Fourteenth Amendment forbids. Because the decision rests on preventing state-enforced discrimination, the Equal Protection Clause is the right constitutional principle to apply. The First Amendment addresses religious freedom, the Fifth Amendment deals with due process for the federal government (not the state action involved here), and the Tenth Amendment concerns states’ powers, none of which fit the core issue of prohibiting state-endorsed racial discrimination.