Title The Constitution besieged : the rise and demise of Lochner era police powers jurisprudence / Howard Gillman

Published Durham ; London : Duke University Press, 1993 ©1993

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Description 1 online resource (x, 317 pages) Series HeinOnline legal classics library HeinOnline Congress and the courts Legal classics library Congress and the courts Contents The origins of Lochner era police powers jurisprudence -- The master principle of neutrality and the rise of class conflict -- The old constitutionalism and the new realism -- The Constitution besieged Summary The Constitution Besieged offers a compelling reinterpretation of one of the most notorious periods in American constitutional history. In the decades following the Civil War, federal and state judges struck down as unconstitutional a great deal of innovative social and economic legislation. Scholars have traditionally viewed this as the work of a conservative judiciary more interested in promoting laissez-faire economics than in interpreting the Constitution. Howard Gillman challenges this scholarly orthodoxy by showing how these judges were in fact observing a long-standing constitutional prohibition against "class legislation." By reviewing unfamiliar state cases and legal commentary, and by providing fresh interpretations of familiar Supreme Court cases, Gillman uncovers a fascinating - and long forgotten - legal tradition. In this richly textured historical narrative, we see how American judges once worked to insure that legislative power be used only to promote the public good, and not to benefit certain classes or burden their market competitors. Beyond shedding new light on this jurisprudence, Gillman also links it to larger debates in the political system, debates traced to concerns about factional politics expressed by the country's founders and to the Jacksonian assault on special privileges. This tradition came under siege with the intensification of class conflict at the turn of the century, and Gillman carefully documents its demise. He details how industrialization undermined assumptions about the fairness of capitalist social relations, and how this led increasing numbers of people to question the requirement that the state remain neutral in matters of class conflict - thus leaving it to a stalwart judiciary to protect "a Constitution besieged." A major contribution to an understanding of this important period in the history of the Supreme Court, Gillman's work stands as a landmark in revisionist accounts of the "Lochner era." Gillman's study represents the kind of paradigm-shift that will undoubtedly affect a wide range of scholarly activity for some time to come. The broad scope of this work makes it essential reading for those interested in American political thought, the development of the American state, the relationship between law and social change, and contemporary debates about the original intent of the framers of the Constitution and the proper role of the judiciary in American politics Analysis Legislation Role of Judiciary History United States Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-289) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Online resource (HeinOnline, viewed February 7, 2018) SUBJECT USA Supreme Court gnd Subject Police power -- United States -- History Political questions and judicial power -- United States -- History Judicial process -- United States -- History Constitutional law -- United States. Economic liberties (U.S. Constitution) -- History Liberty of contract -- United States -- History Social legislation -- United States -- History Social conflict -- United States -- History LAW -- Civil Procedure. LAW -- Legal Services. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- Judicial Branch. LAW -- Constitutional. LAW -- Public. Constitutional law Economic liberties (U.S. Constitution) Judicial process Liberty of contract Police power Political questions and judicial power Social conflict Social legislation Klassenjustiz Arbeitsbeziehungen Rechtsprechung Constitutionele gerechtshoven. Toetsingsrecht. Police power -- United States -- History. Political questions and judicial power -- United States. Judicial process -- United States. Liberty of contract -- United States -- History. Social legislation -- United States -- History. Constitutional law -- Economic aspects -- United States. Economic liberties (U.S. Constitution) -- History. United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780822399865 0822399865

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