Page:United States Reports 546.pdf/268

 546US1

Unit: $$U7

[09-04-08 12:12:39] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 546 U. S. 49 (2005)

57

Opinion of the Court

Thus, we have usually assumed without comment that plaintiffs bear the burden of persuasion regarding the essen­ tial aspects of their claims. For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e et seq., does not directly state that plaintiffs bear the “ultimate” burden of persuasion, but we have so concluded. St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U. S. 502, 511 (1993); id., at 531 (Souter, J., dissenting). In numerous other areas, we have presumed or held that the default rule applies. See, e. g., Lujan v. De­ fenders of Wildlife, 504 U. S. 555, 561 (1992) (standing); Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., 526 U. S. 795, 806 (1999) (Americans with Disabilities Act); Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U. S. 541, 553 (1999) (equal protection); Wharf (Holdings) Ltd. v. United Int’l Holdings, Inc., 532 U. S. 588, 593 (2001) (securities fraud); Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 422 U. S. 922, 931 (1975) (preliminary injunctions); Mt. Healthy City Bd. of Ed. v. Doyle, 429 U. S. 274, 287 (1977) (First Amendment). Congress also expressed its approval of the general rule when it chose to apply it to administrative proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U. S. C. § 556(d); see also Greenwich Collieries, supra, at 271. The ordinary default rule, of course, admits of exceptions. See McCormick § 337, at 412–415. For example, the burden of persuasion as to certain elements of a plaintiff ’s claim may be shifted to defendants, when such elements can fairly be characterized as afﬁrmative defenses or exemptions. See, e. g., FTC v. Morton Salt Co., 334 U. S. 37, 44–45 (1948). Under some circumstances this Court has even placed the burden of persuasion over an entire claim on the defendant. See Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA, 540 U. S. 461, 494 (2004). But while the normal default rule does not solve all cases, it certainly solves most of them. Decisions that place the entire burden of persuasion on the opposing party at the outset of a proceeding—as petitioners urge us to do here—are extremely rare. Absent some rea­ son to believe that Congress intended otherwise, therefore,