Sunday, June 9, 2013

Kens on Bernstein on Lochner


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.