Twisting Federalism

In the October issue of The Freeman, George Leef responds to a liberal writer’s notion that federalism and liberalism are good working partners and that the dissent by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in a 1932 case illustrates the point. In his December 2003 New York Times piece, Adam Cohen used New State Ice Co v. Liebmann for his argument. In that case, Leef explained, the Oklahoma legislature enacted a law preventing anyone from entering the ice business without a certificate from the state. The majority ruled the law was unconstitutional because it infringed on Liebmann’s liberty. Brandeis dissented, writing that the Depression called for experimentation to improve economic conditions. Leef finds Cohen’s use of that dissent ridiculous. “Just as Brandeis naively believed that Oklahoma’s cartelization of the ice-making business might improve the state’s depressed economy, so do contemporary ‘liberals’ believe that state politicians will manage to solve problems that now plague us, such as unwanted corporate mismanagement,” Leef wrote.