326
Opinion of the Court
confined. See post, at 342-346 (Souter, J., dissenting). Nonetheless, it would have been plausible for the Kentucky Legislature to believe that most mentally retarded individuals who are committed receive treatment that is different from, and less invasive than, that to which the mentally ill are subjected. "States are not required to convince the courts of the correctness of their legislative judgments." Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co., 449 U. S. 456, 464 (1981). Thus, since " 'the question is at least debatable,' " Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization of Cal., 451 U. S. 648, 674 (1981), quoting United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U. S. 144, 154 (1938), rational-basis review permits a legislature to use just this sort of generalization.
These distinctions may explain, too, the differences in treatment between the mentally retarded and the mentally ill that have long existed in Anglo-American law. At English common law there was a "marked distinction" in the treatment accorded "idiots" (the mentally retarded) and "lunatics" (the mentally ill). 1 F. Pollock & F. Maitland, The History of English Law 481 (2d ed. 1909) (hereinafter Pollack and Maitland). As Blackstone explained, a retarded person became a ward of the King, who had a duty to preserve the individual's estate and provide him with "necessaries," but the King could profit from the wardship. In contrast, the King was required to "provide for the custody and sustentation of [the mentally ill], and preserve their lands and the profits of them," but the King was prohibited from profiting thereby. 1 W. Blackstone, Commentaries *302-*304. See Pollack and Maitland 481; S. Herr, Rights and Advocacy for Retarded People 9-10 (1983).
Ancient lineage of a legal concept does not give it immunity from attack for lacking a rational basis. That the law has long treated the classes as distinct, however, suggests that there is a commonsense distinction between the men-
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