Strict scrutiny is the highest standard used by courts to review laws that potentially interfere with constitutional rights or discriminate against a protected class. The law must be closely tailored to serve a fundamental purpose of government and must be important and appropriate. It is commonly applied in constitutional law cases and cases of discrimination under civil rights law.
Strict scrutiny in legal terms refers to the strictest standard a court will use to review a given law or specific situation. Generally, this type of control is applied when the federal or state legislature passes a law that potentially interferes with constitutional rights or when the legislature passes a law that discriminates against a protected class. Strict scrutiny as a legal standard can also be applied in many other situations.
When strict scrutiny applies, the court will not allow a particular law or decision to exist unless it can cope with a very heavy burden. The exact burden that applies to a strict review depends on the type of law or decision the court is looking at. In general, the standard is an alternative method of judicial review, with intermediate review as the less stringent standard.
This standard is commonly applied in constitutional law cases. For example, if the federal government were to try to pass a law that would limit the type of language used on television, this law would have to come under rigorous scrutiny. This stringent standard is being enforced because the proposed language limiting law could be a potential violation of First Amendment rights in the United States Constitution. Any law that limits or inhibits protections in the constitution is under rigorous scrutiny.
According to this standard, the particular law must be closely tailored to serve a fundamental purpose of government. Strictly tailored means that the law is as specific as possible to serve the given purpose. If a different law did the same thing and impacted constitutional rights less, the law would not pass the stringent burden imposed by this standard.
The definition of the fundamental purpose of government means that the purpose must be important and appropriate. In other words, the government has a fundamental right to protect a person’s safety. Therefore, the government can pass a law stating that it is illegal to shout “fire” in a crowded theater because this serves the fundamental and important purpose of protecting the safety of those in the theater and because it is strictly tailored and specific only to that given situation.
Strict scrutiny also applies in cases of discrimination under civil rights law in the United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and various other civil rights pieces of legislation prohibit employers, public institutions, and government officials from discriminating against an individual on the basis of race, national origin, sex, or religion. Therefore, if an employer makes a hiring decision that discriminates on the basis of gender, that decision is rigorously scrutinized and evaluated to ensure it serves a legitimate and bona fide business purpose.
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