rational basis

[Malla Pollack]

This standard is quite variable.  While often toothless, the Court did
look quite closely at the record Congress relied upon to waive state
sovereign immunity recently in Garret.  Additionally, in Claiborne
(Spelling?) Living Center, the Court refused to approve as "rational" a
zoning ordinance that limited group homes for the retarded. As I
remember that case, the Court recognized that (1) many people disliked
retarded adults, (2) because of this dislike, a group home might lower
property values, (3) local residents might reasonably decide to bar
group homes merely to protect the value of their own real estate, even
if they personally did not dislike retarded adults.  What the Court
seems to lack is a doctrinally sufficient basis for deciding when to add
teeth to so-called rational review.

Malla Pollack
Northern Illinois Univ., College of Law
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
815-753-1160; (fax) 815-753-9499
mallapollack at niu.edu