What We Fight For

Equality and Opportunity

Equality and opportunity are the cornerstones of our civil rights.

But government stands in the way of many people’s opportunities today. It has displaced the Constitution’s guarantee of liberty with policies that assail, for instance, opportunities to earn a living or pursue a quality education. And government officials disregard the Constitution’s call for equality before the law by allocating burdens or benefits to some at the expense of others, increasingly discriminating based on race, sex, or group entitlement.

PLF’s equality and opportunity cases aim to secure equal freedom for all. We work to dismantle unconstitutional barriers to opportunity, freeing individuals to rise based on their choices, character, and ability.

Equality and opportunity are the cornerstones of our civil rights.

Featured Equality and Opportunity Cases

Des Moines Midwife Collective, empowering birth experiences.

Des Moines Midwife Collective v. Iowa Health Facilities Council

Iowa midwives fight back against cronyism to help expectant mothers

Urban Artifact v. Col. Christopher Paris

Fighting Pennsylvania’s unfair restrictions on out-of-state craft breweries

American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Pritzker

Fighting for equality and educational opportunity for future teachers in Illinois

B.B. v. Capistrano Unified School District, et al.

Elementary school disciplines first-grader for innocent “Black Lives Matter” drawing

Sandy Chiong v. Henry McMaster

Illegal race quotas on government boards deny equality and destroy opportunity

Valencia Ag, LLC v. Alexander

Race and sex preferences in New York business licensing deny equal treatment and opportunity

MacDonald v. Sabando

Cancer doctors and patients fight for right to telehealth

Joshua Diemert v. City of Seattle

Seattle’s “racial equity” policies create hostile workplace for City employees

Our Equality and Opportunity Goals

Advance Equality in Public Education, Public Employment, and Government Contracting

It is immoral and unjust to treat individuals differently on the basis of race. Government has a constitutional duty to treat all persons equally under the law. PLF opposes all forms of racial discrimination by government, both overt and covert.

End Government Policies that Distribute Benefits or Burdens Based on Sex

Gender quotas treat people as statistics rather than as individuals. Sex-based civil rights laws like Title IX are abused to permit or require sex-based discrimination. No one should be barred from an opportunity because of the government’s sex-based discrimination.

Oppose Economic Protectionism

Government power should never be used to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Yet the government frequently enacts regulations that throttle the opportunities of some businesses and entrepreneurs to protect others from honest competition. Courts should invalidate laws that serve constitutionally illegitimate protectionist ends.

Restore the Constitutional Right to Earn a Living

Nearly one in four Americans must get an occupational license—permission from the government—just to do their jobs. The Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment protects the right to earn a living against unfair and burdensome regulations that separate people from opportunity.

End Discrimination on Government Boards

Across the country, state and local governments are choosing members of boards and commissions on the basis of race and sex. But in a just society, individuals should be judged on their character, qualifications, and achievements, not on immutable characteristics they cannot control.