Bretheren 1972, Supreme Court

A case heard on January 17, Frontiero v. Richardson was a sex-discrimination case, wherein Frontiero had asked for the same larger quarters and monetary increase that men received when they married. The lower court said she was not entitled to the same benefits as the men unless her husband was legally dependent on her for support. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that states could not treat men and women differently without a clear reason. Burger thought the Frontiero case should be handled in the same way. Rehnquist favored upholding the lower court. The case was assigned to Brennan. Brennan wrote two drafts: a narrow one that was limited and a broad one that resulted in a constitutional ban. He circulated both of them. Douglas, Marshall, and White joined the broadly written draft. Powell wrote a dissent to the broad version in which Burger, Blackmun, and Rehnquist joined. This left Stewart as the deciding vote. Stewart wanted a compromise, which Brennan rejected. Brennan published the broad version of the draft.