Official: Homeland Security to Adopt Strict Scrutiny, Intermediate Scrutiny and Rational Basis Terror Alert System

According to a high-ranking official in the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) is close to making an announcement that it will be revamp its often maligned Color-coded Threat Level System. DHS plans to institute three stoplight colored alert levels – rational basis (green), intermediate scrutiny (yellow) and strict scrutiny (red). For legal scholars like President Obama, these words bring back fond memories of constitutional law. For most Americans, this system is likely to bring continued confusion.

The Government’s new “Stoplight Review and Alert System” is designed to simplify the process by which the government can inform Americans just how frightened and paranoid to act. If Homeland Security sets the system to the green “rational basis” level, Americans are directed to determine if individuals in their immediate surroundings are using reasonable means to pursue legitimate interests. The yellow “intermediate scrutiny” level will put citizens on notice to watch out for individuals that are not pursuing important governmental interests using substantially-related means.

While these first two levels may seem confusing, the most alarming setting in the “Stoplight Review and Alert System” is likely to be the red “strict scrutiny” level. If Homeland Security decides to set the nation’s alert level to this color and phrase, Americans should immediately be on the lookout for any activity that is not in the pursuit of a compelling governmental interest and that is not narrowly tailored to achieve its intended result. Or, as one skeptic put it, “lock your windows and doors because it’s about to get crazier than a Sarah Palin book tour.”

The fact that DHS has decided to couch the alerts in terms of "governmental interest" is consistent with the Obama administration’s goal of putting the federal government in the center of every American’s life. This system also continues to solidify Mr. Obama’s reputation as a legal scholar in chief. “The way I see it, by the time the President’s time in office is done most of the nation will be headed to law school,” explained one administration official, “and we can only hope it will be a law school that is fully funded by the federal government.”