Fighting Foreclosure: The Blaisdell Case, the Contract Clause, and the Great Depression

Fighting Foreclosure: The Blaisdell Case, the Contract Clause, and the Great Depression. By John A. Fliter and Derek S. Hoff. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012. 232 pp., $19.95, paperback, ISBN 978-0-7006-1872-9.

Political scientist John Fliter and historian Derek Hoff have accomplished a difficult task-they have written a detailed account of a foundational Supreme Court case that is also a very readable historical narrative. Deftly intertwining legal, social, and political history, Fliter and Hoff illuminate the groundbreaking depression-era case of Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell, which ended the long hold of the United States Constitution's Contract Clause on legislative mortgage relief. The study brings attention both to the legal arguments in a formative case and, critically, to the historical context leading up to and surrounding the Supreme Court decision. As such,...