lochnerize means to read one's policy preferences into the Constitution, as was (allegedly) done by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1905 case Lochner v. New York. It carries an Arena rating of 1337, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, lochnerize ranks #119 of 13,218 for Most Incisive Words, #234 of 13,218 for The Improbable, #1,546 of 13,218 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,069 of 13,218 for Most Storied Words.
Why “lochnerize” is a great word
To interpret a constitutional or statutory text by reading one’s own economic or political policy preferences into its words, treating subjective values as neutral legal commands. From the surname Lochner, from the case title *Lochner v. New York*, combined with the verbal suffix -ize, meaning ‘to make or practice.’ Unlike ‘judicial restraint,’ which counsels deference to legislative choices, or ‘textualism,’ which seeks meaning in the ordinary sense of the words alone, to Lochnerize is to cloak a policy wish in the venerable guise of constitutional principle. It is the phantom discovery of a ‘freedom of contract’ in silent parchment, a judge’s vision of a proper workweek read into the text, and the quiet substitution of personal conviction for legal finding—the perennial temptation to mistake one’s own era’s doctrines for eternal truth.
Etymology
From Lochner + -ize; from Lochner v. New York, the title of a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905.
verb
- To read one's policy preferences into the Constitution, as was (allegedly) done by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1905 case Lochner v. New York.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- nullificationist 79% match — One who believes that individual states of the United States should be able to exempt themselves selectively from federal laws. vs lochnerize →
- overbreadth 77% match — The excessive broadness of a statute that, in proscribing unprotected activity, also proscribes protected activity. vs lochnerize →
- theoconservatism 76% match — The political philosophy stating that religion should play a role in forming public policy. vs lochnerize →
- minarchism 75% match — Belief in the desirability and practicality of minimum government. vs lochnerize →
- trustbusting 75% match — The breaking up of trusts or monopolies. vs lochnerize →
- theoconservative 75% match — A person who believes that religion should play a role in forming public policy. vs lochnerize →
- pseudolegality 75% match — The appearance of legality of something that is not actually legal; The use of courts, police, or legal procedures to accomplish pseudolegal results. vs lochnerize →
- dominionism 75% match — A tendency among some conservative Christians, especially in the USA, to seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action. vs lochnerize →