Lochner V. New York

Paper 1

Civil Rights and Liberties

Savannah State University

In five double-spaced, type-written pages, please respond to the following topic. Draw upon the text of the case to support your argument. You are welcome to do some research to help you with this paper, but it is not necessary. Turn the paper into the dropbox in D2L by February 11, 11am. Please check the turnitin.com report to make sure you don’t have problems with originality. Remember the rule of plagiarism: if the words are not yours, please quote and cite.

Lochner v. New York (1905) is considered one of the most problematic cases in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, largely for the way in which it argued for minimizing the role of government in commercial affairs, to the detriment of workers and consumers. Using the text of the case in your book, outline the theory of the role of government in commercial affairs advanced by the Court in Lochner. What are the main lines of argument? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments? Also, address the dissenting arguments in the case. How do they counter the arguments by the Court? Which do you think is the strongest argument? Why?