Also known as: mere rationality standard · mere-rationality standards · rational basis review · rational basis test · rational basis scrutiny
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of judicial review under which a court upholds governmental action when the government pursues a legitimate objective and the means chosen are rationally related to that objective. The standard imposes only minimal requirements on the fit between means and ends and permits underinclusive or overinclusive legislation.
State officials enact a statute requiring all police officers to retire at age fifty. Officer Mason McCarthy, who remains physically fit, challenges the statute after his forced retirement. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and upholds the law because the age limit is rationally related to the legitimate goal of maintaining a physically capable force.
The President issues an order barring entry of pilots from several majority-Muslim countries after intelligence reports flag heightened hijacking risks. Foreign national Angelica challenges the order on Establishment Clause grounds. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and upholds the order because the national-security purpose is legitimate and the restrictions are rationally related to it.
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Congress enacts a statute prohibiting firearms within one thousand feet of schools. A high-school senior is charged after carrying a handgun near campus. The court declines to apply the mere-rationality standard to the Commerce Clause claim and invalidates the statute because Congress could not rationally conclude that gun possession near schools substantially affects interstate commerce.
A state funds public schools primarily through local property taxes, producing large disparities between wealthy and poor districts. Parents in a low-wealth district sue, claiming the system violates equal protection. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and upholds the funding scheme because local control of education is a legitimate objective and the tax system is rationally related to it.
A group of older state employees sues the state under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act after being passed over for promotions. The state moves to dismiss the damages claims. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and holds that Congress lacked power under Section Five to abrogate state sovereign immunity because age classifications receive only rational-basis review.
A state statute grants domestic insurance companies a tax advantage over out-of-state insurers. An out-of-state insurer challenges the statute as violating equal protection. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and upholds the law because encouraging local industry is a legitimate objective and the tax distinction is rationally related to that goal.
The government must pursue a legitimate objective, and the means chosen must be rationally related to that objective. The standard tolerates underinclusive or overinclusive legislation and requires only minimal means-end fit.
Federal alienage classifications receive deferential rational-basis review because Congress possesses plenary power over immigration and the terms on which noncitizens may receive federal benefits. State alienage classifications, by contrast, ordinarily trigger strict scrutiny.
Yes. Courts accord substantial deference to the political branches in those fields and generally apply at most rational-basis review. An order survives if it states a legitimate national-security purpose rationally related to the restrictions, even when extrinsic statements suggest improper motive.
Age classifications receive only rational-basis review, and Congress must identify a pattern of irrational state discrimination and craft a congruent and proportional remedy. The ADEA's broad prohibitions reach much conduct that is constitutional under rational-basis review.
…the ground that "[t]he crafting and safeguarding of public morality . . . indisputably is a legitimate government interest under rational basis scrutiny"); Milner v. Apfel , 148 F. 3d 812, 814 (CA7 1998) (citing Bowers for the proposition that "[l]egislatures are permitted to legislate with regard to morality . . . rather than confined…