Allgeyer v. Louisiana 165 U.S. 578 (1897)

• Author: David Gordon
• Pages: 70

Page 70

The Louisiana legislature sought to encourage local business by forbidding state citizens from buying marine insurance from out-of-state companies. Justice RUFUS PECKHAM, building on a long line of dissents by Justice STEPHEN J. FIELD, expounded a broad concept of "liberty" including the idea of FREEDOM OF CONTRACT. Liberty, said the Court, "is deemed to embrace the right of the citizen to be free in the enjoyment of all his faculties." In thus circumscribing state authority over interstate business, Allgeyer represents the first invalidation of a state act as a deprivation of freedom of contract without violating the FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT guarantee of DUE PROCESS OF LAW.

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