Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Reinvigorating the Contract Clause

George Leef has a great piece in Forbes this week on the effect of erosion of the contract clause on individual liberty. George discusses a case that will soon come before the Supreme Court, Sveen v. Melin, in which a husband who had divorced his wife but wanted to keep her as his life insurance beneficiary died. The state of Minnesota had declared that spousal beneficiary designations are to be revoked upon divorce, so the state has deprived his wife and their children of insurance money. The capriciousness of state and federal law undermines the ability to do business. The current judicial rule given to courts is vague and expansive, and since the New Deal courts have served as a rubber stamp to every dictatorial decision big-government advocates favor. Although I gag every time I think about President Trump's tariff decision, this kind of case is a reason to continue to support the Republican Party. It's hard, though.