people are equal under law
Justice Stanley Matthews, in Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)
The guaranty of equal protection of the laws is a pledge of the protection of equal laws.
Yet, from the very beginning the meaning of "equal protection" has at times been confusing, perhaps because the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment left us no explanation of exactly what they meant. On the other hand, the phrase could be read to mean that any law, no matter what common sense suggests, will be applied rigidly to all people. Such an extreme notion that laws cannot in any way, shape or manner discriminate among individuals or groups, can become silly. Passing a vision test as a requirement for securing a driver's license clearly discriminates against people who are blind or have sight impediments, yet this is an appropriate form of distinction.