The following excerpt is from Ball v. Massanari, 254 F.3d 817 (9th Cir. 2001):
If the statute employs a quasi-suspect classification, such as gender or illegitimacy, then courts must apply "intermediate" scrutiny and ask whether the statute is substantially related to an important governmental interest. See United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 567-68 (1996).
If the statute does not involve a suspect or quasi-suspect classification, then "rational basis" review applies, in which a court must ask whether the statute is rationally-related to a legitimate governmental interest. See Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S. 62, 83-84 (2000).
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