Part I - Government Limitations and their Development

Part I differs from the remainder of the course in that we will focus primarily on case law, decisions from the United States Supreme Court and lower courts as well. We’ll discover that many of the employment laws we take for granted today were once deemed unconstitutional. These limitations have weakened, but have not entirely disappeared. We will conclude this part by analyzing modern economic liberty cases.

Liberty of Contract and Early Restrictions on State Employment Laws

• Slides
• Case Law Excerpts
• Excerpts from Lochner v. New York, Adkins c. Children's Hosp., and Meyer v. Nebraska
• Full decisions CaseText 
• Lochner v. New York
• Adkins v. Children's Hosp.
• Meyer v. Nebraska

Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause as an Early Restriction on State Employment Laws

The Supreme Court Lowers the Bar on Liberty of Contract and the Commerce Clause

Does the Interstate Commerce Clause Still Mean Anything?

Modern Economic Liberty Cases

• Slides
• Case law on CaseText
• Powers v. Harris
• Craigmiles v. Giles
• Clayton v. Steinagel