Talk:Rational basis review

So what is 'rational basis review'? The article isn't exactly clear... Peter ^{Urist for Mod!} 00:12, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

It is a doctrine of US constitutional law. The equal protection clause guarantees all people "equal protection of the law". But equal treatment allows legitimate exemptions. The question is, to what standard must an exemption be demonstrated? The US Supreme Court has decided that unequal treatment based on race requires very strong justification (strict scrutiny), unequal treatment based on gender requires a more moderate strength of justification (intermediate scrutiny), unequal treatment based on "non-suspect" criteria requires only a relatively forgiving standard of justification (rational basis review). In gay rights litigation, a major question is whether sexuality can constitute a suspect class like race, or a quasi-suspect class like gender, and if so unequal treatment based on sexuality would require more strenuous justification than it would under rational basis review. (((Zack Martin)))^™ 00:18, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

OK, I made it better. But maybe if an actual lawyer (especially a US one) weighed in we could make it even better. Nutty Roux maybe? (((Zack Martin)))^™ 00:42, 16 June 2012 (UTC)