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Oklahoma (1942) was an early case in which the Court decided the harshest review (strict scrutiny) was appropriate. The Supreme Court has declared government regulation should be scrutinized very strictly when it infringes on a protected liberty (like procreation or marriage) or a protection action (like political speech), or when it unfairly discriminates against a protected class (like race or national origin). Strict Scrutiny is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It was, in the Court’s opinion, just regular government regulation, and it only had to be reasonable.
#Strict scrutiny test free#
This case did not deserve any higher level of scrutiny because it did not involve a particularly sensitive issue, like free speech or discrimination against someone in a protected class. In denying Nebbia of his claim, the Supreme Court said the government has the right to create general restrictions on private conduct for the purpose of regulating the economy, so long as the government action is not “arbitrary, discriminatory, or demonstrably irrelevant” to the action regulated. The Due Process Clause in the Constitution, Nebbia said, protected him against unfair or unreasonable regulatory power. Nebbia, a store owner, violated the law and challenged that his conviction was unfair. The NY government had decided to regulate the prices of dairy (setting a minimum retail price). The Supreme Court came up with Rational-Basis Review in Nebbia v. Our infographic outlines the three most common points on the spectrum (Rational-Basis, Intermediate Scrutiny, and Strict Scrutiny). The Supreme Court has found the following situations to correspond to these levels of scrutiny. You can consider the levels of scrutiny as existing on a spectrum: where Rational-Basis Review is at one end and Strict Scrutiny is at the other. The court will evaluate various factors that are likely to raise suspicion to determine the level of scrutiny. Certain classes of people are more highly protected than others.
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Certain liberties are more highly protected than others. That depends on the sensitivity of the issue. The court must determine whether it will be skeptical of government action, or be less nit-picky.
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