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 a state law limiting work hours and became the leading precedent contending that novel economic regulations were unconstitutional. Sure to be controversial, "Rehabilitating Lochner" argues that despite the decision's reputation, it 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.

About the Author :
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.

Review :
"As every law student knows, Lochner was a case in which a court packed with business sympathizers stuck it to the little guy in a shameless display of judicial activism. But, like a surprisingly large number of things everyone knows, this conventional wisdom is almost entirely wrong, and David E. Bernstein's new book, Rehabilitating Lochner, makes clear just how wrong it is - and how and why the Lochner narrative became established in the legal academy.... The false narrative of Lochner has controlled the past for decades but Bernstein's clear and incisive work may wrest that control away and move us back to the truth." (Glenn Reynolds, Commentary) "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) "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)"