The Fourteenth Amendment

…No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This amendment’s Equal Protection Clause is important to our concept of fundamental fairness and securing the same rights and privileges for all people against state and local governmental abuses and deprivations. This amendment’s Due Process Clause safeguards fair criminal procedures and provides protection from inhumane or dangerous conditions of confinement for those detained prior to prosecution and conviction. Civil Rights and Equal Protection, Wrongful Death, Wrongful Conviction or Imprisonment, Inhumane Conditions or Care, Failure to Protect, Rights of Children