TENNESSEE v. LANE Opinion of the Court "Difficult and intractable problems often require powerful remedies," Kimel, 528 U. S., at 88, but it is also true that "[s]trong measures appropriate to address one harm may be an unwarranted response to another, lesser one," Boerne, 521 U. S., at 530. It is not difficult to perceive the harm that Title II is designed to address. Congress enacted Title II against a backdrop of pervasive unequal treatment in the administration of state services and programs, including systematic deprivations of fundamental rights. For example, "[a]s of 1979, most States ... categorically disqualified 'idiots' from voting, without regard to individual capacity." 5 The majority of these laws remain on the books,6 and have been the subject of legal challenge as recently as 2001.7 Similarly, a number of States have prohibited and continue to prohibit persons with disabilities from engaging in activities such as marrying 8 and serving as jurors. 9 The historical experience that Title II reflects is also documented in this Court's cases, which have identified unconstitutional treatment of disabled 5 Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center,Inc., 473 U. S. 432, 464, and n. 14 (1985) (Marshall, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part) (citing Note, Mental Disability and the Right to Vote, 88 Yale L. J. 1644 (1979)). 6 See Schriner, Ochs, & Shields, Democratic Dilemmas: Notes on the ADA and Voting Rights of People with Cognitive and Emotional Impairments, 21 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 437, 456-472, tbl. 11 (2000) (listing state laws concerning the voting rights of persons with mental disabilities). See Doe v. Rowe, 156 F. Supp. 2d 35 (Me. 2001). 8 E. g., D. C. Code § 46-403 (West 2001) (declaring illegal and void the marriage of "an idiot or of a person adjudged to be a lunatic"); Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 402.990(2) (West 1992 Cumulative Service) (criminalizing the marriage of persons with mental disabilities); Tenn. Code Ann. §36-3-109 (1996) (forbidding the issuance of a marriage license to "imbecile[s]"). 9E. g., Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. §729.204 (West 2002) (persons selected for inclusion on jury list may not be "infirm or decrepit"); Tenn. Code Ann. § 22-2-304(c) (1994) (authorizing judges to excuse "mentally and physically disabled" persons from jury service).