Final answer:
Guided discretion statutes provide frameworks for decision-making, allowing some flexibility within set parameters. Three types include presumptive sentencing guidelines, administrative guidelines, and mandatory minimum statutes. Gender discrimination laws are typically subject to intermediate scrutiny, not the rational basis test.
Step-by-step explanation:
Guided discretion statutes are laws that provide a framework within which officials have limited flexibility to make decisions. In the context of discrimination law, when examining a law that treats men differently from women, one would typically apply an intermediate scrutiny test, rather than a rational basis test. The rational basis test is often used for laws implicating non-suspect classifications. However, in the United States, gender classifications fall into a quasi-suspect category and are subject to intermediate scrutiny to determine if they are substantially related to an important government objective. Three types of guided discretion statutes include:
- Presumptive sentencing guidelines, which set forth a range of permissible sentences for a particular crime, allowing judges some discretion within those boundaries.
- Administrative guidelines, which offer parameters for agency decision-making in the exercise of regulatory functions.
- Mandatory minimum statutes, which require a certain minimum penalty for specified offenses, thereby constraining judicial discretion.