Also known as: heightened standards of judicial review · heightened scrutiny
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of judicial review that demands the government demonstrate an important or compelling interest and a close fit between the challenged classification or restriction and that interest. It applies to suspect or quasi-suspect classifications and burdens on fundamental rights, rendering the government action presumptively invalid unless the required showing is made.
State officials enforce a statute barring married couples from obtaining contraceptives through state pharmacies. Hugo Hart and his spouse challenge the law after their request is denied. The court applies heightened scrutiny because the restriction burdens the fundamental right to marital privacy and invalidates the statute for lack of narrow tailoring to any compelling interest.
A state statute caps the rent that Helios Energy may charge for its service stations. Helios Energy sues, claiming the cap effects a regulatory taking. The court evaluates the regulation under the Takings Clause rather than heightened scrutiny and holds that the substantially-advances test does not govern takings claims.
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The Patent and Trademark Office refuses to register a mark containing a racial slur submitted by Hakim Hall. Hall sues, alleging a First Amendment violation. The court subjects the denial to heightened scrutiny because the refusal constitutes viewpoint discrimination and strikes down the statutory bar.
The City of New London condemns Hazel Hoffman's waterfront home to assemble land for a private development project expected to increase tax revenue. Hoffman challenges the taking. The court applies rational-basis review under the Public Use Clause rather than heightened scrutiny and upholds the condemnation.
The water management district conditions approval of Hector Hernandez's building permit on dedication of land for flood control. Hernandez sues, claiming an unconstitutional exaction. The court applies heightened scrutiny to evaluate whether an essential nexus and rough proportionality exist between the condition and the project's impact.
The City of Hialeah enacts an ordinance banning ritual animal sacrifice practiced by members of the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye. The church sues, alleging a free exercise violation. The court applies heightened scrutiny because the ordinance targets religious conduct and invalidates it for lacking narrow tailoring to a compelling interest.
Heightened scrutiny applies to classifications based on race, alienage, national origin, sex, or legitimacy, as well as burdens on fundamental rights such as marital privacy. The government must then show an important or compelling interest and a close fit between the means and that interest.
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Rational basis review upholds a classification if it is rationally related to a legitimate interest. Heightened scrutiny presumes invalidity and requires the government to prove an important or compelling interest plus substantial relation or narrow tailoring.
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Federal alienage classifications receive rational basis review because Congress possesses plenary power over immigration. State alienage classifications generally trigger strict scrutiny unless they involve a governmental function exception.
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The law is invalidated because it interferes with the fundamental right to make intimate decisions within marriage without a sufficiently tailored justification. Courts have struck down contraceptive bans and marital-status distinctions in benefit programs under this standard.
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…scrutiny under the doctrine of "substantive due process." Roe and Casey , of course, subjected the restriction of abortion to heightened scrutiny without even attempting to establish that the freedom to abort was rooted in this Nation's tradition. (2) Bowers , the Court says, has been subject to "substantial and continuing…