Next Friday, I, along with (fellow Yale Law ’91 alum) Jeff Rosen of G.W. and Ted White of U. Va., will be participating in an AEI panel discussion (register here) on Lochner v. New York: Still Crazy After All These Years? Here are the details:
In Lochner v. New York (1905), the Supreme Court—discovering a right to contract in the Fourteenth Amendment—invalidated a New York statute setting maximum working hours for bakery employees. A century later, Lochner still stands as one of the most widely despised decisions in the Court’s entire history. Conservatives denounce it as a prime example of “substantive due process” run wild—judicial invention paving the way for Roe v. Wade and its offspring. With equal fervor, liberals criticize the Lochner Court’s perceived attempt to write laissez faire economics into the Constitution. But does Lochner deserve its lousy reputation? Or are these modern perceptions a product of dubious historical scholarship? What exactly is Lochner’s legacy?
10:00 a.m. Registration
10:15 Panelists:
David E. Bernstein, George Mason University School of Law
Jeffrey Rosen, George Washington University School of Law
G. Edward White, University of Virginia School of Law
Moderator: Michael S. Greve, AEI
Noon Adjournment
Hope to see some VC readers there.
Comments are closed.