Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

LEGAL FORMALISM AND PROGRESSIVISM

other natural monopolies. More often, it used the Commerce Clause and the substantive Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to uphold the rights of private property and liberty of contract, invalidating in important cases like Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897) and Lochner v. New York (1905) state regulatory legislation.

Legal formalists such as Christopher Langdell envisaged the legal system as a tightly organized rational and non-political universe which tended to be static and relied heavily on precedent. Constitutional scholar Cooley said, "There is no rule or principle known to our system under which private property can be taken from one man and transferred to another for the private use and benefit of such other person, whether by general laws or by special enactment" (341). Legal progressives, such as Roscoe Pound, rejected what they labelled Mechanical Jurisprudence, which they believed served the interests of the status quo. They wanted to use the law to effect social change. Holmes said, "the life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience" (720).

Minorities did not fare well during the era of legal formalism. Although some social legislation was passed and sustained by the courts, the women's rights movement succeeded to the extent it did in promoting laws, such as the legislation in Oregon limiting the numbers of hours women could work, which was upheld in the Supreme Court in Muller v. Oregon (1908), by emphasizing the dependence of women and the injurious effects of industrialization

...

< Prev Page 2 of 7 Next >

More on LEGAL FORMALISM AND PROGRESSIVISM...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
LEGAL FORMALISM AND PROGRESSIVISM. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:44, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708301.html