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You probably know that any law that classifies people according to their race is subject to strict scrutiny. You’ve likely heard that there are three levels of scrutiny used by courts to evaluate the constitutionality of laws: rational basis review, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny. Judicial scrutiny is the legal term to describe just how hard a court is supposed to look at and second-guess a law when it is deciding whether it is constitutional. Whatever the reason is, it’s not based on some animus toward 18-year-olds.Ī law that says men need only be 18 years old to drink, but women have to be 21 years old before they can, because women are weaker and can’t hold their liquor, would be a different story: That is a law based on gender stereotyping. How would a court figure out whether such a law is constitutional or not? By using one of three levels of “judicial scrutiny.” Rather, the state has legitimate reasons to prevent 18-year-olds from drinking, like reducing the number of drunk-driving accidents. This is not because the state bears some ill will toward 18-year-olds and wants to screw them out of a chance to get wasted and pass out in a ditch. With drinking, for example, states have decided that 21-year-olds are mature enough to drink and handle the responsibility that goes along with that, while 18-year-olds are not. The equal protection provisions of the Fifth and 14th Amendments require, generally, that the law treat every person in this country equally. But sometimes a government has a really good reason for treating people unequally.
![3 levels of scrutiny 3 levels of scrutiny](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/doctor-under-scrutiny-4979809.jpg)
Constitution sets out the basic idea that all of us, even the bigots, have equal rights. It’s a timely topic, considering HB 2, the anti-LGBTQ law that bigots in North Carolina passed last week. You may have heard level-headed folks talk about how “ wildly unconstitutional” HB 2 is. This week, we’re going to talk about levels of judicial scrutiny for equal protection cases. And even if it doesn’t, you’ll have gotten through an article about a tricky concept and you can go grab a nice cold beer, if you’re into that sort of thing.
![3 levels of scrutiny 3 levels of scrutiny](https://image1.slideserve.com/1564255/pre-employment-screening-three-levels-of-scrutiny-l.jpg)
This week’s round may be a bit more academic than the prior weeks, but if you hang in there with us, everything will make sense by the end. Hello fellow law nerds! We are back with another edition of Boom! Lawyered.