Roberts, Lochner and Revolt

In John Roberts, Stare Decisis and the Return of Lochner: An Impetus to Jump-Start the Labor Movement, Matthew Ford, a law student at St. John's, parses Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts' statements at his confirmation hearings "to the future and beyond":

Combining Roberts' willingness to overturn precedent absent the likelihood of disrupting "settled expectations" with his clearly pro-corporate attitude and history and his dodging of what he really thinks of Lochner, it is not hard to imagine that, without a firm labor movement and a clear indication that society would revolt against a return to the Lochner era, Roberts would not mind overturning longstanding precedent and taking us back to the days of laissez faire.

- Joe Hodnicki