Strict scrutiny

Strict scrutiny is the most stringent standard of judicial review used by United States courts. It is part of the hierarchy of standards that courts use to weigh the government's interest against a constitutional right or principle. The lesser standards are rational basis review and exacting or intermediate scrutiny. These standards are used to test statutes and government action at all levels of government within the United States.

The idea of "levels of judicial scrutiny", including strict scrutiny, was introduced in United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938), one of a series of decisions testing the constitutionality of New Deal legislation. The first and most notable case in which the Supreme Court applied the strict scrutiny standard and found the government's actions valid was Korematsu v. United States (1944). In Korematsu the Court upheld the government ruling 6-3 that the need to protect the country from espionage outweighed the rights of Mr. Korematsu.^[1]

1. ↑ "Mr. Justice BLACK delivered the opinion of the Court" (PDF). C-SPAN/National Cable Satellite Corporation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.