Congress passed the Filled Milk Act which prohibits the shipment in interstate commerce of skimmed milk compounded with any fat or oil other than milk fat.
Procedural History:
SCOTUS held law constitutional.
Issues:
How should the Court review economic regulations passed by Congress?
Holding/Rule:
Where the existence of a rational basis for the legislation exists, the Court should not strike down economic regulations passed by Congress.
Judicial deference to gov't economic regulations with more aggressive judicial review for cases involving fundamental rights and minorities.
Reasoning:
Twenty years prior, in Hebe Co. v. Shaw, SCOTUS held a law such as this constitutional. No need to deviate from precedent.
Affirmative evidence also sustains the statute.
Congress had hearings and evidence from experts about the danger to the public health of skimmed milk with other additives.
The existence of facts supporting the legislative judgment is to be presumed.
Economic regulations are not to be found unconstitutional unless it can be shown that it cannot rest upon some rational basis within the knowledge and experience of the legislators.
Here, it is at least debatable whether commerce in this kind of milk should be regulated or remain unregulated; that decision is left for Congress.
