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The classical limits to police power and the economic foundations of the Slaughterhouse dissents

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  • Nicola Giocoli

    (University of Pisa)

Abstract

The essay examines the influence of classical economics on an important episode in American 19th-century jurisprudence on business regulation, the Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873. It is well known that the dissents penned by Supreme Court Justices Field and Bradley lay down the fundamental doctrines of the later Lochner era of so-called laissez faire constitutionalism. The essay argues that these dissents were inspired by Adam Smith’s system of natural liberty and, in particular, by his views about the regulation of negative externalities and the undesirability of government-granted monopolies. The Smithian influence emerges even more clearly when the briefs presented by counsel for the plaintiffs John A. Campbell are considered. Those briefs contained most of the issues raised by the dissenting Justices; hence, it is claimed that Lochner’s intellectual roots may be traced back to Campbell and, from him, to Smith.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Giocoli, 2019. "The classical limits to police power and the economic foundations of the Slaughterhouse dissents," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 407-437, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:30:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s10602-019-09281-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-019-09281-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Slaughterhouse Cases; Lochner era; Classical political economy; Adam Smith; John A. Campbell; Monopoly;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B12 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Classical (includes Adam Smith)
    • K10 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - General (Constitutional Law)
    • N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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