The Lochner Court, Myth and Reality

The Lochner Court, Myth and Reality PDF Author: Michael J. Phillips
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 031300076X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Conventional wisdom holds that the Lochner Court illegitimately used the Constitution's due process clauses to strike down Progressive legislation designed to protect the poor and powerless against big business. This book systematically examines all of the U.S. Supreme Court's substantive due process cases from 1897 through 1937 and finds that they do not support long-held beliefs about the Lochner Court. The Court was more Progressive than commonly imagined, striking down far fewer laws on substantive due process grounds than is generally believed. The laws it overturned were not invariably social legislation, and relatively few due process cases involved freedom of contract. Moreover, Holmes, despite his reputation as a Great Dissenter, joined many of the cases striking down government action. The book attacks three familiar normative criticisms of the Lochner Court. It accerts that (1) the Court's substantive due process decisions almost certainly were not motivated by a conscious desire to assist business by suppressing social legislation; only sometimes did the justices' nostalgia for laissez-faire lead to this result; (2) the conservative justices' understanding of business and government often exceeded that found in the typical Brandeis Brief; and (3) most applications of Lochner-era substantive due process cannot readily be described as illegitimate assertions of judicial power lacking justification in the due process clauses.

The Lochner Court, Myth and Reality

The Lochner Court, Myth and Reality PDF Author: Michael J. Phillips
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 031300076X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book

Book Description
Conventional wisdom holds that the Lochner Court illegitimately used the Constitution's due process clauses to strike down Progressive legislation designed to protect the poor and powerless against big business. This book systematically examines all of the U.S. Supreme Court's substantive due process cases from 1897 through 1937 and finds that they do not support long-held beliefs about the Lochner Court. The Court was more Progressive than commonly imagined, striking down far fewer laws on substantive due process grounds than is generally believed. The laws it overturned were not invariably social legislation, and relatively few due process cases involved freedom of contract. Moreover, Holmes, despite his reputation as a Great Dissenter, joined many of the cases striking down government action. The book attacks three familiar normative criticisms of the Lochner Court. It accerts that (1) the Court's substantive due process decisions almost certainly were not motivated by a conscious desire to assist business by suppressing social legislation; only sometimes did the justices' nostalgia for laissez-faire lead to this result; (2) the conservative justices' understanding of business and government often exceeded that found in the typical Brandeis Brief; and (3) most applications of Lochner-era substantive due process cannot readily be described as illegitimate assertions of judicial power lacking justification in the due process clauses.

Rehabilitating Lochner

Rehabilitating Lochner PDF Author: David E. Bernstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226043185
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
In this timely reevaluation of an infamous Supreme Court decision, David E. Bernstein provides a compelling survey of the history and background of Lochner v. New York. This 1905 decision invalidated state laws limiting work hours and became the leading case contending that novel economic regulations were unconstitutional. Sure to be controversial, Rehabilitating Lochner argues that the decision was well grounded in precedent—and that modern constitutional jurisprudence owes at least as much to the limited-government ideas of Lochner proponents as to the more expansive vision of its Progressive opponents. Tracing the influence of this decision through subsequent battles over segregation laws, sex discrimination, civil liberties, and more, Rehabilitating Lochner argues not only that the court acted reasonably in Lochner, but that Lochner and like-minded cases have been widely misunderstood and unfairly maligned ever since.

Lochner V. New York

Lochner V. New York PDF Author: Paul Kens
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
On the case of Joseph Lochner, a baker in Utica, N.Y., charged in 1901 with violating the New York Bakeshop Act of 1895 by requiring an employee to work more than 60 hours in one week.

Due Process of Law

Due Process of Law PDF Author: John V. Orth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Mindful of the English background and of constitutional developments in the several states, Orth in a succinct and readable narrative traces the history of due process, from its origins in medieval England to its applications in the latest cases. Departing from the usual approach to American constitutional law, Orth places the history of due process in the larger context of the common law. To a degree not always appreciated today, constitutional law advances in the same case-by-case manner as other legal rules. In that light, Orth concentrates on the general maxims or paradigms that guided the judges in their decisions of specific cases. Uncovering the links between one case and another, Orth describes how a commitment to fair procedures made way for an emphasis on the protection of property rights, which in turn led to a heightened sensitivity to individual rights in general.

Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places

Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places PDF Author: Emily Zackin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069115578X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Unlike many national constitutions, which contain explicit positive rights to such things as education, a living wage, and a healthful environment, the U.S. Bill of Rights appears to contain only a long list of prohibitions on government. American constitutional rights, we are often told, protect people only from an overbearing government, but give no explicit guarantees of governmental help. Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood the American rights tradition. The United States actually has a long history of enshrining positive rights in its constitutional law, but these rights have been overlooked simply because they are not in the federal Constitution. Emily Zackin shows how they instead have been included in America's state constitutions, in large part because state governments, not the federal government, have long been primarily responsible for crafting American social policy. Although state constitutions, seemingly mired in trivial detail, can look like pale imitations of their federal counterpart, they have been sites of serious debate, reflect national concerns, and enshrine choices about fundamental values. Zackin looks in depth at the history of education, labor, and environmental reform, explaining why America's activists targeted state constitutions in their struggles for government protection from the hazards of life under capitalism. Shedding much-needed light on the variety of reasons that activists pursued the creation of new state-level rights, Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places challenges us to rethink our most basic assumptions about the American constitutional tradition.

Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy

Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy PDF Author: Keith E. Whittington
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400827752
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Should the Supreme Court have the last word when it comes to interpreting the Constitution? The justices on the Supreme Court certainly seem to think so--and their critics say that this position threatens democracy. But Keith Whittington argues that the Court's justices have not simply seized power and circumvented politics. The justices have had power thrust upon them--by politicians, for the benefit of politicians. In this sweeping political history of judicial supremacy in America, Whittington shows that presidents and political leaders of all stripes have worked to put the Court on a pedestal and have encouraged its justices to accept the role of ultimate interpreters of the Constitution. Whittington examines why presidents have often found judicial supremacy to be in their best interest, why they have rarely assumed responsibility for interpreting the Constitution, and why constitutional leadership has often been passed to the courts. The unprecedented assertiveness of the Rehnquist Court in striking down acts of Congress is only the most recent example of a development that began with the founding generation itself. Presidential bids for constitutional leadership have been rare, but reflect the temporary political advantage in doing so. Far more often, presidents have cooperated in increasing the Court's power and encouraging its activism. Challenging the conventional wisdom that judges have usurped democracy, Whittington shows that judicial supremacy is the product of democratic politics.

Liberalism and Capitalism: Volume 28, Part 2

Liberalism and Capitalism: Volume 28, Part 2 PDF Author: Ellen Frankel Paul
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107640261
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
Political philosophers, theorists and historians address what are the core values of liberalism and how can they best be promoted?

The Supreme Court [4 volumes]

The Supreme Court [4 volumes] PDF Author: Paul Finkelman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2279

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Book Description
An insightful, chronological—by chief justice—examination of the Supreme Court that enables students and readers to understand and appreciate the constitutional role the Court plays in American government and society. American citizens need to understand the importance of the Supreme Court in determining how our government and society operates, regardless of whether or not they agree with the Court's opinions. Unfortunately, the role and powers of the third branch of government are not well understood by the American public. After an introduction and overview to the history of the Supreme Court from 1789 to 2013, this book examines the Court's decisions chronologically by Chief Justice, allowing readers to grasp how the role and powers of the Court have developed and shifted over time. The chapters depict the Court as the essential agent of review and an integrated part of the government, regardless of the majority/minority balance on the Court, and of which political party is in the White House or controlling the House or Senate.

Liberty of Contract

Liberty of Contract PDF Author: David N. Mayer
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1935308408
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Examines the history of the liberty of contract and shows how this right has been continuously diminished by court decisions and by our country's growing regulatory and welfare state.

Law and the Invisible Hand

Law and the Invisible Hand PDF Author: Robin Paul Malloy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108836631
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Introduction : law's invisible hands -- Setting the stage -- Social organization in the informal realm -- Social organization in the formal realm -- Integrating the informal and formal in Smith's theory -- The spectator view -- Judgment and justice -- The sentiment of common interest -- The impartial spectator, homo-economicus, and homo-identitas -- Understanding the four stages of progress -- Adam Smith in American law -- Parting thoughts.