quasi-suspect classification. A statutory classification based on gender or legitimacy, and therefore subject to intermediate scrutiny under equal-protection analysis. • Examples of laws creating a quasi-suspect classification are those permitting alimony for women only and providing for an all-male draft. See INTERMEDIATE SCRUTINY. [Cases: Constitutional Law 213.1(1), 224(1). C.J.S. Constitutional Law §§ 714–715, 718, 733–734, 941–944.]
suspect classification
suspect classification. Constitutional law. A statutory classification based on race, national origin, or alienage, and thereby subject to strict scrutiny under equal-protection analysis. • Examples of laws creating suspect classifications are those permitting only U.S. citizens to receive welfare benefits and setting quotas for the government’s hiring of minority contractors. See STRICT SCRUTINY. Cf. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT. [Cases: Constitutional Law 213.1(1). C.J.S. Constitutional Law §§ 714–715, 718.]
