Also known as: balancing principle · tailoring principle · balancing principles · tailoring principles · proportionality analysis · narrow tailoring
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial method requiring that government restrictions on protected rights or interests be justified by sufficiently important objectives and limited to means that advance those objectives without unnecessary breadth. The method demands specific findings that the chosen means are the least burdensome available and that the restriction is no broader than needed to serve the asserted goal.
Byron Bishop, a reporter, sought access to a criminal trial involving sensitive evidence. The district court closed the courtroom after a general assertion of national security without identifying any overriding interest or considering alternatives such as redacted transcripts. The appellate court applied balancing and tailoring principles to reverse the closure order.
Benito Benitez challenged a state law requiring spousal notification before an abortion. The court weighed the burden on the woman's liberty interest against the state's asserted interest in marital communication and concluded that the measure was not narrowly tailored because less restrictive alternatives existed.
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Bernard Bass's church performed animal sacrifice as part of its rituals. The city enacted an ordinance banning such sacrifices while permitting other forms of animal killing. The court applied balancing and tailoring principles and struck down the ordinance because it was not narrowly tailored to any compelling interest.
Blake Butler, an applicant denied admission, challenged the university's use of race in its holistic review process. The court examined whether the program was narrowly tailored to achieve diversity and remanded for further findings on whether race-neutral alternatives had been adequately considered.
Baxter Dynamics operated two adult bookstores in one building. The city enforced a zoning ordinance limiting multiple adult businesses in a single structure to reduce secondary effects. The court applied balancing and tailoring principles and upheld the measure after finding it served a substantial interest with only incidental burdens on expression.
Bristol Steel challenged state rules banning outdoor tobacco advertising near schools. The court weighed the state's interest in preventing youth smoking against the burden on commercial speech and held that the restrictions failed tailoring requirements because they reached farther than necessary.
The court must identify a sufficiently important governmental interest and determine that the restriction is no broader than necessary to advance that interest. Specific findings are required rather than general assertions.
Supporting sources
Balancing and tailoring requires the government to prove an important or compelling interest and to show that the means chosen are narrowly drawn. Rational basis review accepts any legitimate purpose and any reasonably related means without demanding narrow tailoring.
Supporting sources
…"presumably has the capability of meaningful life outside the mother's womb." Ibid. In order to fulfill the requirement of narrow tailoring, "the State is obligated to make a reasonable effort to limit the effect of its regulations to the period in the trimester during which its health interest will be furthered." Akron v.…