by Clyde E. Jacobs (Author)

Law Writers and the Courts explores the profound yet often overlooked influence of legal commentators on the shaping of American constitutional law in the decades following the Civil War. Clyde E. Jacobs examines how Thomas M. Cooley, Christopher G. Tiedeman, and John F. Dillon--three of the era's most influential law writers--supplied both the legal profession and the courts with doctrines that crystallized laissez-faire ideology into constitutional principle. Through their treatises, these publicists advanced the doctrines of liberty of contract and public purpose, reshaping the scope of state police power, taxation, and regulation. Jacobs situates their writings against the broader struggle over property rights, democratic reform, and the emergence of industrial capitalism, showing how ideas that began in scholarly works came to be invoked by courts and accepted as binding law.

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