340
Souter, J., dissenting
side, it is clear that "[i]n cases involving individual rights, whether criminal or civil, '[t]he standard of proof [at a minimum] reflects the value society places on individual liberty,' " id., at 425 (brackets in original and citation omitted), which encompasses both freedom from restraint and freedom from the stigma that restraint and its justifications impose on an institutionalized person, id., at 425-426.
The question whether a lower burden of proof is rationally justified, then, turns not only on whether ease of diagnosis and proof of dangerousness differ as between cases of illness and retardation, but also on whether there are differences in the respective interests of the public and the subjects of the commitment proceedings, such that the two groups subject to commitment can rationally be treated differently by imposing a lower standard of proof for commitment of the retarded.4 The answer is clearly that they cannot. While difficulty of proof, and of interpretation of evidence, could legitimately counsel against setting the standard so high that the State may be unable to satisfy it (thereby effectively thwarting efforts to satisfy legitimate interests in protection, care, and treatment), see id., at 429, that would at most justify a lower standard in the allegedly more difficult cases of illness, not in the easier cases of retardation. We do not lower burdens of proof merely because it is easy to prove the proposition at issue, nor do we raise them merely because it is difficult.5 Nor do any other reasonably conceivable facts
4 In addition to the two prerequisites mentioned in the text, the State must also prove that commitment would be beneficial and the least restrictive alternative method of treatment. The Court does not contend that there is any rational justification for imposition of a lowered burden of proof with respect to these prerequisites for institutionalization in those cases where the allegation is one of retardation and not illness. See ante, at 324.
5 And indeed, to the extent Addington v. Texas, 441 U. S. 418 (1979), does discuss the difficulty of diagnosing mental illness, see id., at 429-430, it supports use only of a lesser standard of proof because of the practical problems created by a supposed "serious question as to whether a state
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