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In lieu of a Sunday book review post, I’ll just note my
appreciation of
The History and Implications of Lochner v. New York, Paul Kens’s review for H-Law of
David E. Bernstein’s
Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights against Progressive Reform. I thought Professor Kens avoided the many pitfalls that await the
reviewer of a book on a topic that the reviewer
has already addressed at book length. By giving
Rehabilitating Lochner the respect it deserves, even as
he pointed out his disagreements with it, he has made it easier for the rest of
us to make up our own minds about the interpretations he and Professor Bernstein
offer of a landmark of American constitutional history.