Opinion ID: 1977391
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Presumption of constitutionality of legislation.

Text: Every legislative enactment which regulates economic activity, and does not infringe upon fundamental freedoms, enjoys a strong presumption of constitutionality, and one who seeks to overcome this presumption must bear the heavy burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the statute in question is unconstitutional. [1] Not only is the burden of the challenger heavy in this regard, but the task of this court in passing upon the constitutionality of laws is limited and restrained. This court does not sit as a superlegislature debating and deciding upon the relative merits of legislation. It looks for a reasonable basis upon which the legislature might have acted, and assumes that the legislature had such a purpose in mind when it enacted the law in question. [2]