Read the excerpt from "For the ERA." For instance, the Constitution guarantees due process of law, in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. But the applicability of due process to sex distinctions is not clear. Women are excluded from some state colleges and universities. In some states, restrictions are placed on a married woman who engages in an independent business. Women may not be chosen for some juries. Women even receive heavier criminal penalties than men who commit the same crime.
Answer
A
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee due process of law, which should include sex distinctions, but their application remains unclear because women are excluded from some state colleges and universities, some juries, some business, and some courtrooms.
B
The Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law, but the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments do not apply equally to women; for example, women are not allowed to attend certain schools, serve on certain juries, engage in independent business, or even be given the same penalty for the same crime a man commits.
C
Due process, guaranteed by the Constitution, is inconsistently applied to women, who are excluded from some colleges and universities and some juries, who may be restricted from engaging in a business, and who may also be penalized more harshly than men for similar crimes.
D
While the Constitution was originally intended to include all United States citizens, amendments guaranteeing due process of law exclude women who want to attend college, serve on juries, run a business, or receive the same criminal penalties as men.
Explanation
The excerpt says it is unclear how due process applies to distinctions based on sex, then gives examples of unequal treatment: limits on education, juries, and business, plus harsher criminal penalties for women. Choice C captures those examples without adding claims that the passage does not make. Choice B shifts the focus to equal protection, which the excerpt does not discuss.
AI-written and checked against the verified answer.