Strict scrutiny

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U.S. Discrimination Law

Standards of Review

Rational basis review Intermediate scrutiny Strict scrutiny

Other Legal Theories

Substantive due process State action doctrine

Defining Moments in Law

The 14th Amendment Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Education Loving v. Virginia U.S. v. Virginia Romer v. Evans Lawrence v. Texas

Modalities of Constitutional Law

Textualism • Originalism • Dynamism

Issues in Constitutional Law

Same-sex marriage Gay rights Civil rights

Strict scrutiny is a form of constitutional review that is used to determine the validity of legislation that discriminates on the basis of suspect categories, such as race. Under strict scrutiny review, a statute can be found valid if the statute is narrowly tailored to an important governmental objective^[1].

It has been said that strict scrutiny is strict in theory, but fatal in fact.

Currently, the only "suspect classifications" to which strict scrutiny applies are race^[2], religion^[3], and national origin^[4]. Sexual orientation has been given a quasi-suspect classification^[5].

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1, 87 S. Ct. 1817, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1010 (1967).
2. ↑ Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483, 74 S. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954).
3. ↑ Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 6 S. Ct. 1064, 30 L. Ed. 220 (1886).
4. ↑ Korematsu v. U.S., 323 US 214, 65 S. Ct. 193, 89 L. Ed. 194 (1944)
5. ↑ Romer v. Evans, 517 US 620, 116 S. Ct. 1620, 134 L. Ed. 2d 855 (1996). See also Lawrence v. Texas, 539 US 558, 123 S. Ct. 2472, 156 L. Ed. 2d 508.