Byron White, McLaughlin v. Florida — Opinion of the Court (1964)
“ The opinion acknowledged that the purpose of the Equal Protection Clause 'was to prevent hostile and discriminating state legislation against any person or class of persons' and that equality of protection under the laws implies that any person, 'whatever his race * * * shall not be subjected, for the same offense, to any greater or different punishment.' 106 U.S., at 584, 1 S.Ct., at 638. ”
Byron White, McLaughlin v. Florida — Opinion of the Court (1964)
“ It is readily apparent that § 798.05 treats the interractial couple made up of a white person and a Negro differently than it does any other couple. No couple other than a Negro and a white person can be convicted under § 798.05 and no other section proscribes the precise conduct banned by § 798.05. Florida makes no claim to the contrary in this Court. However, all whites and Negroes who engage in the forbidden conduct are covered by the section and each member of the interracial couple is subject to the same penalty. ”
Byron White, McLaughlin v. Florida — Opinion of the Court (1964)
“ Our inquiry, therefore, is whether there clearly appears in the relevant materials some overriding statutory purpose requiring the proscription of the specified conduct when engaged in by a white person and a Negro, but not otherwise. Without such justification the racial classification contained in § 798.05 is reduced to an invidious discrimination forbidden by the Equal Protection Clause. ”
