“Lochnerism” or the Lochner era was a period in the Supreme Court History where the court generally felt that it was unconstitutional to write laws protecting workers or otherwise interfering with private business1. It draws it’s name from the Lochner v. New York which struck down limits to working time. This was a period of judicial activism where the court was usurping legislative power, making laws rather than interpreting them.
1. Stoller, M. Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2019).