Final answer:
State governments do have the right to set laws such as the legal driving age, reflecting their power in a federal system. Legal discrimination based on age for smoking, drinking, and driving serves public safety, balanced against individual rights. Historical context, such as voting rights for women, shows the complexity of legal equality.
Step-by-step explanation:
State governments indeed have the authority to enact specific laws, including those related to the legal driving age. This is because the United States allows states to have control over certain regulatory areas, such as vehicle licensing and public safety.
The notion that states can set their own minimum ages for driving reflects an aspect of their rights as recognized in the system of federalism, where power is divided between the federal and state governments.
For instance, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 is an example where the federal government influenced state law regarding the legal drinking age by leveraging federal highway funds to encourage states to raise their minimum drinking age to twenty-one.
The equal protection clause does not necessitate that everyone be treated exactly the same in all circumstances, but rather that the law be applied equally and fairly within defined categories.
Governments can use legal discrimination to set age restrictions for activities like smoking, drinking, and driving because these laws are intended to serve the public good, balancing individual freedoms with community safety and welfare.
The historical context where no state constitution in the Revolutionary Era allowed women the right to vote, or the limitation of voting rights for women prior to the 19th Amendment, illustrates both the evolution of legal discrimination and the complexity of determining equality under the law.