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Aesthetic Regulation Under The Police Power: The New General Welfare And The Presumption Of Constitutionality, Beverly A. Rowlett

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article will examine the existing methods of analysis employed by courts in reviewing primarily aesthetic regulations, as well as the way in which those methods have been affected by the courts' continually evolving interpretation of the concept of general welfare. The Article argues that in many cases in which regulations based solely or primarily on aesthetic considerations have been upheld, the essential constitutional inquiries have been misdirected. This is because "nonaesthetic" justifications are asserted that either are wholly derived from aesthetic benefits, or have no basis in fact--and need none because of the presumption of constitutionality. Because the more …