WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation applauds the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not allow for differing, politically-driven standards of proof for employees facing discrimination. 

Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, lauded the Court’s decision: 

“The Supreme Court properly ruled today that there is not a higher standard of proof for someone asserting that they were discriminated against depending on whether they are gay or heterosexual.

“The idea that there should be different standards for different individuals based on their race or sexual orientation is repugnant and a clear violation of federal civil rights laws that protect everyone.  

“This is so obvious that it was a unanimous decision of the justices to override the blatantly wrong decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.” 

Thomas Jipping, a senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, added: 

“The Supreme Court unanimously rejected this attempt by lower court judges to change the law that Congress has enacted. When Congress enacted Title VII with a single standard for ‘any individual’ alleging discriminatory treatment, it meant what it said.  

“Justice Clarence Thomas rightly exposed the Sixth Circuit’s attempt to go beyond Congress as ‘improper judicial lawmaking.’ That error must have been especially serious here for the liberal justices—including Justice Jackson, who wrote the opinion—to recognize it.”