Also known as: governmental interests · government interest · government interests · state interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An objective pursued by a government that may justify restrictions on constitutional rights or determine the applicable law in choice-of-law analysis. The objective must be legitimate or compelling depending on the level of scrutiny applied to the government action. Courts assess whether the objective is genuine and whether the means chosen advance it without unnecessary infringement on protected interests.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Gwen Gallagher opens a small shop selling ritual meats according to her religious practices. The city enacts an ordinance that bans the precise method she uses while permitting other forms of animal slaughter. A court finds the ordinance fails strict scrutiny because the city cannot demonstrate that its stated public health objective is compelling or that the ban is necessary to achieve it.
Gustavo Gutierrez seeks a building permit to expand his coastal home. The county approves the permit only if Gutierrez conveys a public access easement across his beachfront. A court holds the condition invalid because the required conveyance lacks an essential nexus to any legitimate governmental interest that would have justified denying the permit outright.
Greta Goldstein sues an aircraft manufacturer in California after a plane crash in Scotland kills her family members. The district court applies California choice-of-law rules and concludes that Pennsylvania has the stronger governmental interest in applying its liability standards to the manufacturer. The analysis weighs each state's stake in regulating the conduct at issue.
Gina Griffin files a class action in federal court against an insurer under state law. The insurer argues that a state procedural rule limiting class actions should apply. The court weighs the state's governmental interest in controlling aggregate litigation against the federal system's interest in uniform procedural rules when no Federal Rule directly addresses the issue.
Glenn Gross seeks approval to build a nuclear facility in California. State regulators impose additional safety standards beyond federal requirements. The court evaluates whether the state's asserted interest in protecting public safety from radiation hazards is legitimate and whether the standards conflict with federal authority over nuclear plant design.
Guillermo Guzman sues in U.S. court to recover property seized by a foreign government. The court declines to examine the validity of the expropriation. It recognizes the foreign state's governmental interest in controlling its own territory and resources as a core aspect of sovereign authority that U.S. courts will not second-guess.
A governmental interest qualifies as compelling when it addresses a paramount public concern such as public safety or preventing discrimination. The interest must be genuine rather than hypothesized and the regulation must be narrowly tailored to achieve it. Courts reject interests that are merely legitimate but not of the highest order.
Supporting sources
…corporate fiduciaries such as appellants. This argument is undercut by the failure of the Delaware Legislature to assert the state interest appellee finds so compelling. Delaware law bases jurisdiction, not on appellants' status as corporate fiduciaries, but rather on the presence of their property in the State. Although the…
…enjoyed voting rights. That was not Colegrove v. Green . "When a State exercises power wholly within the domain of state interest
…apply to Piper, and Pennsylvania choice-of-law rules would apply to Hartzell. It further concluded that California applied a “governmental interests” analysis in resolving choice-of-law problems, and that Pennsylvania employed a “significant contacts” analysis. The court used the “
…we found in Labine a recognition that judicial deference is appropriate when the challenged statute involves the "substantial state interest in providing for the stability of . . . land titles and in the prompt and definitive determination of the valid ownership of property left by decedents' . . . ." 406 U. S., at 170, quoting…
…generally legislates with domestic concerns in mind”). The point was well put by Brainerd Currie in his seminal article on governmental interest
Strict scrutiny requires a compelling governmental interest that is narrowly tailored. Intermediate scrutiny requires only an important governmental interest that is substantially related to the means chosen. The level of scrutiny depends on the right affected or the classification used.
Supporting sources
A condition on a development permit must have an essential nexus to a legitimate governmental interest that would justify denying the permit outright. The condition must also be roughly proportional to the impact of the proposed development. Without that connection the exaction constitutes a taking.
Supporting sources
Courts identify each state's stake in having its law applied to the controversy. They compare the strength of those interests and apply the law of the state with the predominant governmental interest in the outcome. This approach avoids arbitrary selection among competing state laws.
Supporting sources