The Constitution protects a diverse array of groups. The Framers viewed political and religious minorities as particularly worthy of safeguard, and later developments brought racial groups, women, and the poor into this fold. Yet, a separate strain in American political and jurisprudential thought has carved out a place for others, including those that inherently wield a measure of advantage. No less a constitutional thinker than James Madison emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of the wealthy. “The minority of the opulent,” Madison argued, must be protected from majority domination (quoted in Matthews 2005, 54).