Recently, I've been reading about people who say it's unconstitutional for the government to infringe upon their rights. I'm nearing the end of my third year of law school and am in my Constitutional Law class right now preparing for an upcoming final. The cases that form the precedent for how we evaluate when and how the federal and state government can infringe upon our rights are fascinating and a great read. But the facts are that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and the Supreme Court is tasked with interpreting the Constitution. Nobody else. This is why their case law is so important - it's how you learn how they interpret the Constitution. In an analysis to determine if the government (here the State government) can infringe upon a right, you must first determine what kind of right is being infringed upon. (We'll leave religion out of this analysis because the Free Exercise of Religion and

the Establishment Clause have another type of analysis.) The right that is being infringed upon is the right to work, to go outside, to hang out with family and friends in gatherings, etc. This is a liberty right and it is considered a fundamental right. A fundamental right is one that is deeply rooted in this nation's history and tradition and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty such that neither liberty nor justice would exist if they were sacrificed. This is important because in order to infringe upon a fundamental right, the government must pass the highest and most stringent standard of judicial review. This standard is called strict scrutiny. In order for a government to infringe upon the rights stated above, they must meet ALL of the following elements:1. The ordinance or law is necessary in order to achieve a "compelling state interest";2. The law or ordinance is "narrowly tailored" to achieving this compelling purpose; and3. That the…