The Constitutionality of Business Regulation in the Burger Court: Revival and Restraint

Historically, the Supreme Court has followed one or another extreme view of the constitutionality of business regulation. This Article categorizes and reviews the Burger Court's significant business regulation decisions according to an analysis of the market economy functions served by the regulation in question. The Article demonstrates that the Burger Court, unlike its predecessors, has employed several standards of review. The Article concludes that the Burger Court has developed a manageable and relatively consistent analytical methodology, rooted in prevailing political economic values, to establish its view of the constitutional relationship between private property and the public welfare.