Liberty of Contract: Rediscovering a Lost Constitutional Right [Paperback]

David Mayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2011

This book shines a powerful light on a fundamental constitutional right that the Supreme Court abandoned more than 70 years ago-the freedom of individuals to bargain over the terms of their own contracts. Vital to economic and personal liberty, this right has been continuously diminished by the country's regulatory and welfare state. Beginning in 1897 with the Supreme Court's historic Lochner decision, the Court safeguarded this right for 40 years by declaring that laws that interfered with the freedom of people to bargain over the terms of their own contracts were unconstitutional. Then in 1937, as part of the New Deal, the Court abandoned its protection for the liberty of contract. This book rediscovers this lost right, identifying the foundations and nature of the Court's Lochner-era legal theories and decisions and shatters myths that scholars have created about this era and subject.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 1994, David Mayer has been Professor of Law at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio -- teaching courses in Constitutional History, Copyright Law, and Unfair Trade Practices. He is the author of The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson, as well as numerous articles and essays. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 165 pages
• Publisher: Cato Institute (January 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935308394
• ISBN-13: 978-1935308393
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, dense, and available for free. July 27, 2011

By Nick

Format:Paperback

The author presents a thorough review of the liberty of contract jurisprudence, complete with historical context and underpinnings. The book is a dense read and probably best suited for someone not coming to the issue with a blank slate.

I enjoyed this book the first time I read it when it was published in substantially the same form by the Mercer Law Review. See David Mayer, Substantive Due Process Rediscovered: The Rise and Fall of Liberty of Contract, 60 Mercer L. Rev. 563 (2009), available at [...].

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book February 10, 2011

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

This book is not light reading, and it is definitely not a "page turner", but the information it conveys is indispensable in an age with unprecedented government encroachment on individual liberties. My only complaint is that it doesn't always lay out its arguments in easy to follow logic. Perhaps that is because I have been spared the mind-numbing experience called "Law School." I recommend it for someone who is serious about learning the history and philosophy behind our Constitutional protections of individual liberty of contract.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and highly recommended pick for community library politics and economics collections February 13, 2011

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

At what extent should the law dabble in our business affairs? "Liberty of Contract: Rediscovering a Lost Constitutional Right" discusses the increasing presence in government interference in economic liberty. David N. Mayer makes his case for remembering this constitutional right and why it must remain strong as we go deeper into the twenty first century. "Liberty of Contract" is a thoughtful and highly recommended pick for community library politics and economics collections.