The equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment covers any racial, national, and ethnic groups of the United States against whom discrimination can be proved. Decided May 3, 1954 (argued January 11, 1954). Opinion of the Court: Earl Warren → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Discrimination based on race and ethnicity. Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (1954), was a United States Supreme Court case, "the first and only Mexican-American civil-rights case heard and decided... during the post-World War II period." In a unanimous ruling, the court held that Mexican Americans and all other nationality groups in the United States have equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling was written by Chief Justice Earl Warren. This was the first case in which Mexican-American lawyers had appeared before the Supreme Court. Wiki link