Opinion ID: 2801753
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: under the due process clause, the retroactive

Text: APPLICATION OF A STATUTE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY A LEGITIMATE PURPOSE FURTHERED BY RATIONAL MEANS The Constitution’s Due Process Clause provides that “[n]o person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. V. The Due Process Clause guarantees both “substantive due process” and “procedural due process.” United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 746 (1987). Only substantive due process is at issue in this appeal. The Supreme Court has explained that the guarantee of substantive due process prevents the government from engaging in conduct, such as the enactment of legislation, “that ‘shocks the conscience,’ or interferes with rights ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.’” Id. (quoting Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172 (1952); Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 325–26 (1937)). Where no fundamental right is at issue, legitimate government action will normally be upheld so long as there is a rational basis for it. See Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 588 (2003) (Scalia, J., dissenting) (“[O]nly fundamental rights which are deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition qualify for anything other than rational-basis scrutiny under the doctrine of substantive due process.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Specifically, “in the field of national economic policy,” the Court has held the Due Process Clause will not serve to invalidate a retroacSCHAEFFLER GROUP USA, INC. v. US 3 tive statute so long as “the retroactive application of [the] statute is supported by a legitimate legislative purpose furthered by rational means.” Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. v. R.A. Gray & Co., 467 U.S. 717, 729 (1984) (emphases added).