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By John David Dyche WDRB Contributor

Speaking at the Heritage Action Conservative Policy Summit in Washington earlier this month, Kentucky's junior U.S. Senator and likely presidential candidate Rand Paul said, "I'm a judicial activist when it comes to Lochner. I'm a judicial activist when it comes to the New Deal."

In so doing, he joined a growing and impressive group of conservative and libertarian thinkers, including the influential columnist George Will, who embrace a concept long criticized by conservatives.

In the 1905 Lochner case, the Supreme Court struck down a state law limiting weekly hours of bakery employees. The high court held that the law violated "the liberty of the individual protected by the 14th Amendment of the Federal Constitution."

Lochner and its progeny limited the so-called "police powers" of states to interfere "with the general right of an individual to be free in his person and in his power to contract in relation to his own labor."

For the following three decades, this doctrine, referred to as "substantive due process," blocked not only lots of state laws regulating economic matters, but also federal laws proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his New Deal response to the Great Depression.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously dissented in Lochner. He wrote that the "Constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory," but was "made for people of fundamentally differing views."

Holmes contended that "the word liberty,' in the 14th Amendment, is perverted when it is held to prevent the natural outcome of a dominant opinion" unless "a rational and fair man" would find that the statute in question "would infringe fundamental principles as they have been understood by the traditions of our people and our law."

In its famous "Switch in Time That Saved Nine," the Supreme Court adopted the Holmes position, perhaps to prevent Roosevelt from "packing" that tribunal with new justices to end its obstruction of his progressive proposals. Even most conservative judges eventually came around to that way of thinking and repudiated Lochner and substantive due process as judicial activism.

Indeed, when this columnist was in law school in the 1980s, he had the opportunity to ask conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist if Lochner-style substantive due process was fully, finally, and forever dead. Rehnquist replied that he thought it was.

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DYCHE | Rand Paul, Judicial Activist

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made little mention of President Barack Obamas State of the Union address in his response to that speech this week, instead laying out a slate of his own policy plans and calling for new leadership in what could be viewed as more posturing in preparation for a presidential run.

Paul touched on foreign and domestic policy in his speech, drawing specific attention to economic policy.

He spoke about his desire for a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget and concerns about the impact that debt might have on the country.

I fear that this enormous burden of debt threatens our currency, Paul said. I fear that another 2008-style panic is possible, and I fear that this degree of debt is an imminent threat to our national security.

He said Americans want a bigger (economic) pie that current policies arent producing rather than seeing what exists redistributed.

Liberal elites fly over my small town, but they dont understand us, he said. They simply seek to impose their will upon us from what insurance we can buy, to what light bulbs we can use, to how we generate electricity.

Paul continued his efforts to reach out to the black community during his speech, talking about trips he has made to areas such a Ferguson, Mo., Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago.

I think peace will come when those of us who have enjoyed the American dream become aware of those who are missing out on the American dream, he said. The future of our country will be secure when we break down the wall that separates us from the other America.

Paul said American foreign policy has been over-militarized.

We are foolish to believe we will solve this puzzle, he said of the situation in the Middle East. We must defend ourselves and defend vital American interests, but we must not be deluded into believing that we can remake the Middle East in an image of Western democracy.

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Paul touts domestic, foreign policy

The Kelly File Rand Paul: Obama Will Add More Debt Than All 43 Presidents Combined
The Kelly File Rand Paul: Obama Will Add More Debt Than All 43 Presidents Combined http://twitter.com/24portal Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sounded off on President Barack Obama #39;s State of...

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The Kelly File & Rand Paul: Obama Will Add More Debt Than All 43 Presidents Combined - Video

Sen. Paul Discusses the State of the Union on Fox- January 20, 2015
Sen. Rand Paul joins Megyn Kelly on Fox News to discuss President Obama #39;s State of the Union address.

By: SenatorRandPaul

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Sen. Paul Discusses the State of the Union on Fox- January 20, 2015 - Video

America needs many things, but what America desperatelyneeds is new leadership.

Ive only been in office a short time, but one thing Ivediscovered is that there is no monopoly on knowledge inWashington.

The best thing that could happen is for usto once and foralllimit the terms of all politicians. We already limit thePresident to two terms.

I think we should put limits on the terms of Congress andinfuse our government with fresh ideas.

Before I ran for office, I practiced medicine for nearly 20years in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Liberal elites fly overmy small town, but they dont understand us. They simplyseek to impose their will upon usfrom what insurance wecan buy, to what light bulbs we can use, to how wegenerate electricity.

Most of us in flyover country, and I suspect many who livein our big cities, think those in government take us forgranted. Those of us who are actively pursuing theAmerican Dream simply want government to get out of ourway.

For those of us who feel separated and distant from theAmerican Dream, we dont want be perpetually talked downto, forgotten, and left in perpetual poverty. Many arediscouraged that the gifts offered by liberals have notgenerated wealth, but rather perpetuated poverty.

People want a way outnot fake concern and baubles.

The war on poverty is 50 years old, and still blackunemployment is twice that of white unemployment.

Income inequality has worsened under this Administration,and tonight President Obama offers more of the samepoliciespolicies that have allowed the poor to get poorer,and the rich to get richer.

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Rand Paul's Response to Obama's 2015 State of the Union