30 Second Law School

Hello kiddies! And welcome to the first addition of 30 Second Law School! Today were going to learn a little "Con Law." States have "Police powers" which means pretty much everything: health, safety, morals, and general welfare. Unless there is a fundamental right (which is something either in the Federal constitution or made up in some Justice's Head) then State laws are reviewed under a "rational basis" test. Basically, 1) is the stated goal under police powers, 2) are the means rationally related to that goal. Sometimes, courts will go "rational, with a bite," which typically means they need to invent grounds to strike down a law. The "bite" is that the question one becomes "is the real goal actually under police powers?" Mind reading is not just for Miss Celo anymore, now the Wisconsin Supreme Court can wipe out a cap on some medical malpractice damages as an equal protection violation. And remember kiddies at rational basis the burden is on the Plaintiff, not the State. So, that means that by a perponderance of the evidence the Court found that there was not rational connection between Med-Mal caps and any police powers, like say health, or general welfare (which includes tax revenues). Let's review: the State can take your land to sell to a developer, but cannot cap Med-Mal suits because its irrational. . .