74
O'Connor, J., dissenting
Ginsburg, JJ., dissenting); and a majority of the Court today proceeding on the same assumption; I think it appropriate for me to reach the merits of petitioners' equal protection claims. I join the opinion of the Court.
Justice O'Connor, with whom Justice Souter, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Breyer join, dissenting.
In a long line of cases spanning nearly three decades, this Court has applied heightened scrutiny to legislative classifications based on sex. The Court today confronts another statute that classifies individuals on the basis of their sex. While the Court invokes heightened scrutiny, the manner in which it explains and applies this standard is a stranger to our precedents. Because the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has not shown an exceedingly persuasive justification for the sex-based classification embodied in 8 U. S. C. § 1409(a)(4)—i. e., because it has failed to establish at least that the classification substantially relates to the achievement of important governmental objectives—I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
I
Sex-based statutes, even when accurately reflecting the way most men or women behave, deny individuals opportunity. Such generalizations must be viewed not in isolation, but in the context of our Nation's " 'long and unfortunate history of sex discrimination.' " J. E. B. v. Alabama ex rel. T. B., 511 U. S. 127, 136 (1994) (quoting Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U. S. 677, 684 (1973) (plurality opinion)). Sex-based generalizations both reflect and reinforce "fixed notions concerning the roles and abilities of males and females." Mississippi Univ. for Women v. Hogan, 458 U. S. 718, 725 (1982).
For these reasons, a party who seeks to defend a statute that classifies individuals on the basis of sex "must carry the burden of showing an 'exceedingly persuasive justification' for the classification." Id., at 724 (quoting Kirchberg v.
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