When it comes to the protection of individual rights by the U.S.
Supreme Court, some rights are more equal than others. If a
government regulation infringes on freedom of speech or the
right to vote, for example, the Court presumes the law to be
unconstitutional and forces the government to justify its
actions. Lawyers call this approach strict scrutiny. But if a
government regulation infringes on economic rights, the Court
takes the opposite tack, presuming the law to be constitutional
and therefore requiring the regulated party to shoulder the
burden of proving why the law should be struck down. This
approach is known as the rational-basis test. The key text
spelling out this bifurcated system is the Supreme Court’s 1938
decision in United States v. Carolene Products Co. At issue was
a federal law forbidding the interstate shipment of so-called
filled milk, which is basically a milk product made with oil
rather than milk fat. Because filled milk looks like normal milk
or cream while containing a cheaper non