A Boost for Right to Contract?

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Forbes contributor George Leef has written about a significant case before the Supreme Court -- concerning a part of the Constitution FDR has all but consigned to oblivion. A life insurance case from Minnesota hinges on whether the Court will abide by the Contract Clause of the Constitution, whose legal hardiness Leef contrasts with that of the First Amendment:

Image via Pexels.
Conversely, imagine if the Court had developed a robust, pro-contract jurisprudence based on the Contract Clause to match its pro-speech jurisprudence emanating the its favored First Amendment. Lots of governmental interference with people's liberty to shape their lives through contracts they want -- or don't want -- would have been prevented, such as minimum wage laws.
For this reason and others in the piece, I agree with Leef that, "It would be one of the great results of its current term if the justices would not merely uphold the Eighth Circuit but also give a full-throated declaration that the Contract Clause will henceforth be read just as it was written."

-- CAV

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