Two of the most interesting topics in American constitutional history have been the scope of judicial review and the degree to which the Constitution embodies economic, as opposed to political, principles. A recent United States Supreme Court case may bear on both of these matters. The case is Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel (Eastern), and in it, a majority of the Court found a federal law allocating economic resources to be unconstitutional. Even though this is a result that could be of great significance, the legal community seems hardly to have noticed. The purpose of this short Article is to review the Eastern case and consider its implications.
