Also known as: mere rationality · mere-rationality review · mere rationality review · rational basis · rational basis review
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of judicial review under which legislation or a classification is upheld if rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. The standard presumes constitutionality unless the government has acted arbitrarily or irrationally.
The President issues an order barring entry by nationals of several majority-Muslim countries after intelligence reports flag airport security risks. Foreign nationals denied visas sue, citing prior statements suggesting religious bias. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and sustains the order because its stated national-security purpose is rationally related to the restrictions imposed.
A victim of gender-motivated violence sues her attacker under a federal civil remedy provision. The defendant moves to dismiss, arguing Congress lacked power under the Commerce Clause. The court applies mere-rationality review to the equal-protection claim and finds the statute exceeds congressional authority because the remedy is not rationally related to any documented pattern of state irrationality.
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Two men are prosecuted under a state law criminalizing private consensual sodomy. They challenge the statute on substantive due-process grounds. The court applies the mere-rationality standard and upholds the law because moral disapproval supplies a rational basis for the prohibition.
A metropolitan transit authority refuses to pay overtime required by federal statute, claiming Tenth Amendment immunity. Employees sue for back wages. The court applies mere-rationality review to the commerce-power claim and holds that Congress may regulate the authority because the wage rules are rationally related to interstate commerce.
A high-school senior is charged with possessing a firearm near school grounds under a federal statute. He moves to dismiss, asserting the law exceeds Congress's commerce power. The court applies mere-rationality review and invalidates the statute because possession of a gun in a school zone is not rationally related to interstate commerce.
A state statute bars remarriage by noncustodial parents who owe child-support arrears. A father denied a marriage license challenges the law on equal-protection grounds. The court applies the mere-rationality standard to determine whether the restriction is rationally related to the state's interest in ensuring support payments.
The mere-rationality standard applies to classifications that are neither suspect nor semi-suspect and that do not burden a fundamental right. Courts therefore use it for most economic and social-welfare legislation.
Yes. Under mere-rationality review a statute may be underinclusive or overinclusive so long as it remains rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose.
Federal alienage classifications receive deferential rational-basis review because Congress possesses plenary power over immigration. State alienage classifications generally trigger strict scrutiny except in narrow governmental-function contexts.
No. When the measure itself articulates a legitimate purpose rationally related to the classification, courts applying mere-rationality review uphold the law even if extrinsic statements suggest an improper motive.
…(1996); Nordlinger v. Hahn , 505 U. S. 1, 11-12 (1992). Laws such as economic or tax legislation that are scrutinized under rational basis review normally pass constitutional muster, since "the Constitution presumes that even improvident decisions will eventually be rectified by the democratic processes." Cleburne v. Cleburne Living…