Justice Stephen Field: Frontier Justice or Justice at the Natural Rights Frontier?
Nexus: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 6, pp. 121-131, 2001
12 Pages Posted: 21 Aug 2006
Abstract
Produced for a conference by the Claremont Institute commemmorating the 150th Anniversary of California statehood, this article explores the jurisprudential philosophy of one of California's great jurists, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field. From his decisions dealing with property rights, government regulation, and Chinese exclusion statutes, Justice Field consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of the natural law principles that provide the foundation of legitimacy for republican government.
Keywords: Stephen Field, Slaughterhouse, Natural Law, Constitution, Supreme Court, California History
JEL Classification: H10, H11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation