abstract:The Lochner era is a period in American legal history in which the Supreme Court of the United States tended to use Substantive due process to strike down laws held to be infringing on economic liberty or private contract rights, and takes its name from a 1905 case, Lochner v. New York.
Thiswasthe so-calledLochnerera, named after the SupremeCourt's 1905 decisioninLochner v. New York, striking down a state law settingmaximumhoursforbakers.
Since the Lochnerera, which ended when the Court began to defer to Congress on New Deal legislation, the Supreme Court has not done that, has not broken the precedent set there.