O'Brien v. Skinner

Mr. Justice Marshall,

with whom Mr. Justice Douglas and Mr. Justice Brennan join, concurring.

While I join the opinion of the Court, my analysis of the issues presented here requires further elaboration.

I fully agree with the Court’s holding that the Court of Appeals’ reliance on our decision in McDonald v. Board of Election Comm’rs, 394 U. S. 802 (1969), was misplaced. Although we rejected in McDonald a claim similar to that presented by appellants here, the crux of our decision was our conclusion that the rational-basis test was the proper standard-to apply in evaluating the prisoners’ equal…