"Equal protection: Serving sons and daughters"

In 1996, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark opinion in United States v. Virginia that exalted women’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by ending the 157-year-old tradition of all-male education at the Virginia Military Institute, one of the nation’s most distinguished military colleges.

Writing for a 7-1 majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg described VMI as “inco...