Did the Supreme Court Open the Door to Reviving One of Its Worst Decisions? [View all]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/business/scotus-lochner-v-new-york.html
https://archive.ph/7gXe2

Did the Supreme Court Open the Door to Reviving One of Its Worst Decisions?
Lochner v. New York, a 1905 decision on labor law, is imprinted on today’s law students as an example of bad jurisprudence. But those old days could be returning.
By James B. Stewart
Published July 2, 2022

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In striking down a law that prevented bakery employees from working more than 10 hours a day and 60 hours a week, the court, under the 14th Amendment, enshrined a constitutional right to “freedom of contract” — that is, the freedom of people to form contracts without the government’s involvement. The decision set the stage for what became known as the “Lochner era” of laissez-faire capitalism.

That era lasted until the Great Depression and the New Deal in the 1930s. In its heyday, the frequently-cited Lochner was arguably the most important business case the court had ever decided, severely curtailing the government’s ability to regulate business and the economy.

Today, Lochner is imprinted on the mind of nearly every law student as an example of a bad decision. While Lochner was never expressly overruled, it, along with the segregation-era decisions of Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson, was practically cast aside by subsequent rulings.

Now, in the wake of the court’s momentous rulings overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and restricting the reach of administrative agencies in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the foundation has been laid for, if not an outright resurrection of Lochner, at least a serious reappraisal.