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The Lochner Era refers to a period in United States legal history (1897-1937) marked by a series of Supreme Court rulings that struck down economic regulations as violations of due process clauses, particularly under the Fourteenth Amendment. The era is named after *Lochner v. New York* (1905), in which the Court invalidated a New York law limiting the working hours of bakers on the grounds that it infringed upon the right to contract freely. This body of jurisprudence reflected a strong commitment to classical liberalism and laissez-faire economics, emphasizing the protection of economic liberties over government regulation.

The Lochner Era was effectively overturned by subsequent Supreme Court decisions, most notably *West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish* (1937), which upheld a minimum wage law for women, signaling a shift away from strict scrutiny of economic regulations. This transition was part of the broader “New Deal constitutional revolution,” wherein courts adopted a more deferential approach to legislative economic regulation. The Lochner Era's jurisprudence had been deeply influenced by Progressive Era reforms and the emergence of New Deal legislation aimed at addressing labor conditions, industrial regulation, and economic instability.

Key cases during this period included *Allgeyer v. Louisiana* (1897), which invalidated a state law restricting corporate activities; *Holden v. Hardy* (1898), which briefly upheld labor regulations before being narrowed; and *Adair v. United States* (1908), which struck down laws prohibiting yellow dog contracts, which required employees to waive union rights. The Court's rulings often hinged on the doctrine of substantive due process, which interpreted due process clauses as protecting certain fundamental economic rights from government interference.

The Lochner Era is also notable for its dissents, including those by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in *Coppage v. Kansas* (1915), where he argued that the Court should not impose its own judgment over legislative policies, and Louis Brandeis's dissent in *New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann* (1932), which advocated for judicial restraint in economic matters. The era saw the influence of conservative justices known as the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”—Willis Van Devanter, James Clark McReynolds, Pierce Butler, and George Sutherland—who consistently opposed New Deal reforms.

The Lochner Court's decisions had significant implications for labor laws and minimum wage regulations, often invalidating measures aimed at protecting workers. For example, *Adkins v. Children's Hospital* (1923) struck down a federal minimum wage law for women in the District of Columbia, illustrating the Court's broader resistance to economic regulations that interfered with contractual freedom.

Classical liberals argue that the Lochner Court correctly restrained government overreach and protected essential economic liberties from arbitrary regulation. Progressive Era reformers, however, criticized the Court for obstructing democratic efforts to address social and economic inequalities through legislation. Legal realists contend that Lochner-era rulings were shaped by the justices' personal biases rather than neutral legal principles.

Modern scholars often interpret the Lochner Era as reflecting broader tensions between federalism and national regulatory authority. Some modern conservatives have invoked Lochner-era reasoning in dissenting opinions, such as *National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius* (2012), where Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissented on constitutional grounds regarding economic regulation.

New Deal proponents advocated for judicial restraint to allow legislative experimentation in response to the Great Depression. Libertarians defend Lochner's emphasis on protecting individual economic freedoms from government interference, arguing that it prevented overreaching regulation.

* progressive-era-reforms * judicial-review-of-economic-regulations * new-deal-constitutional-revolution * court-packing-debate-1937 * liberty-of-contract-doctrine * Substantive Due Process

1. Horowitz, Donald L. *The Courts and Social Policy.* Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1977. 2. McDonald, Forrest. *Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution.* Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986. 3. Friedman, Lawrence M. *A History of American Law.* New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973.