The Federalist Society will host David Bernstein, professor at George Mason University School of Law and regular contributor to The Volokh Conspiracy, next Tuesday (11/1) at 1:15 pm in L-165. Akron’s Wilson Huhn will provide commentary on Bernstein’s presentation. Chick-fil-a will be served for lunch.
Bernstein will offer a radical new look at Lochner v. New York, the infamous liberty of contract case from 1905. Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights against Progressive Reform, Bernstein’s book on the case, was published this past May and has received significant national attention. Syndicated columnist George Will recently reviewed the book, writing:
“Since the New Deal, courts have stopped defending liberty of contract and other unenumerated rights grounded in America’s natural rights tradition. These are referred to by the Ninth Amendment, which explicitly protects unenumerated rights “retained by the people,” and by the “privileges or immunities” and “liberty” cited in the 14th Amendment. Progressivism, Bernstein argues, is hostile to America’s premise that individuals possess rights that pre-exist government and are not fully enumerated in the Constitution. This doctrine stands athwart liberalism’s aspiration to erase constitutional limits on government’s regulatory powers.”