University of Chicago Press Rehabilitating Lochner – Defending Individual Rights Against Progressive Reform

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. Review "Rehabilitating Lochner does what it sets out to do very well, placing Lochner in its historical context, telling us where it came from, what it actually did, who attacked it, and what those people believed. . . . I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic."--Independent Review -- "Independent Review" (12/15/2012 12:00:00 AM) "A terrific work of historical revisionism, Rehabilitating Lochner brings out some attractive resonances in libertarian themes associated with the widely disparaged constitutional jurisprudence of the period from 1905 to 1937, and some discordant undertones to the Progressive themes sounded during that period. It should induce some changes in the way many students and scholars read the cases from that period."--Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School--Mark Tushnet "Harvard Law School" "An exhilarating book full of interesting new perspectives. Rehabilitating Lochner will change the way people think about the transition from the late nineteenth century to the modern New Deal and Civil Rights regime. It does what good revisionist history should do: see what is familiar in new ways."--Jack M. Balkin, Yale Law School--Jack M. Balkin "Yale Law School" "David Bernstein drives home powerfully and convincingly the fact that the supporters of Lochner were the biggest proponents of protecting the personal rights of African Americans, Roman Catholics, and other minorities. Rehabilitating Lochner will have a profound impact on constitutional law scholarship."--William E. Nelson "New York University" "David E. Bernstein attempts the grand task of 'correcting decades of erroneous accounts' and succeeds with aplomb and notable timeliness. The story of how Joseph Lochner fought legislators and unions to bake his goods in freedom goes especially well with tea."-- "National Review" (7/4/2011 12:00:00 AM) "David E. Bernstein takes issue with conventional wisdom and argues that if one understands the larger context and broader stream of historical development, Lochner was a 'good law' at the time and, despite the fact that it was overruled, its core principles remain good constitutional law today. This is a delightful and informative book that deserves a broad audience."-- "Choice" (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM) "In this thought-provoking volume, David E. Bernstein attempts to "rehabilitate" the Lochner decision and place it in its proper historical context. . . .The book is a valuable corrective. . . . Bernstein approaches the material with a fresh perspective and a cogent analysis that questions both the received wisdom about Lochner and the categories that legal scholars have established to create distance between that era and our own, between judicial defense of civil rights and the judicial defense of economic liberties."--Mark Koyama "H-SOUTH" (2/8/2012 12:00:00 AM) "Intellectual history in its highest form. . . . Bernstein has done nothing less than explode the myth of Lochner, a decision that any pro-liberty student of American constitutional