Levels of scrutiny, substantive due process, incorporation, First Amendment doctrines, and religion clauses.
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- What is strict scrutiny?
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The highest level of constitutional review requiring the government to prove a law serves a compelling state interest and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.- What is intermediate scrutiny?
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The middle level of constitutional review requiring the government to show a law serves an important state interest and is substantially related to achieving that interest.- What is rational basis review?
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The lowest level of constitutional review requiring only that a law be rationally related to a legitimate government interest.- When is strict scrutiny applied?
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When a law affects a fundamental right or involves a suspect classification (race, national origin, alienage).- When is intermediate scrutiny applied?
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When a law involves a quasi-suspect classification (gender, legitimacy) or affects an important right.- When is rational basis review applied?
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The default standard applied to economic and social legislation that does not affect fundamental rights or involve suspect classifications.- Who bears the burden of proof under strict scrutiny?
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The government must prove the law meets strict scrutiny requirements; the law is presumed unconstitutional.- What is substantive due process?
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Constitutional protection against government action that arbitrarily or irrationally deprives a person of life, liberty, or property.- What is the incorporation doctrine?
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The doctrine that most Bill of Rights protections apply to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.- Which clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates Bill of Rights protections to the states?
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The Due Process Clause (nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process).- Name three rights incorporated to the states.
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Examples include freedom of speech, right to bear arms, and right to counsel.- What was the Lochner era?
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A period (roughly 1905-1937) when the Supreme Court struck down economic regulation under substantive due process to protect freedom of contract.- How does modern substantive due process differ from the Lochner era?
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Modern courts apply strict scrutiny only to laws affecting fundamental rights; economic regulations are reviewed under rational basis and almost always upheld.- What is a fundamental right for substantive due process purposes?
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A right explicitly stated or deeply rooted in the nation's history and tradition that is essential to ordered liberty.- What does the First Amendment protect?
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Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to petition the government and assemble peacefully.
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