Overview

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.

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9780226004044

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Reviews

This fresh and invigorating book is tightly argued in taut and well-wrought prose. It is dense with the insight available to those who spurn the conventional categories and perspectives which, as concerns the Lochner Court, have been so encrusted--Bernstein rightly notes, by liberals and conservatives alike--as to harden into cliche. The book is not simply an armchair re-interpretion of Lochner and its era. Despite its brevity, it adduces a raft of original source research in contemporaneous newspapers, law reviews, and reports of interest groups to advance its case. Unlike many libertarian scholars (who operate in ideological ghettoes), Bernstein fully engages with most of the important relevant scholarship, whatever its provenance, and endeavors to meet it directly. He opens up new avenues for historical research, and suggests fundamentally new ways of understanding crucial aspects of American constitutional history. <br>--Ken I. Kersch Law and History Review

Author Information

David E. Bernstein is a Foundation Professor at the George Mason University School of Law and the author of several books, including, most recently, You Can't Say That! The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws.

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