Case Name: Lochner v. New York
Citation: 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
Issue: Whether the New York law which limited bakery worker hours violated the 14th amendment.
Facts: Lochner was convicted of a misdemeanor for violating a New York law that limited the hours he could work in a bakery. The law limited bakery workers to 60 hours per week or 10 hours per day.
Holding: The law interferes with the right of contact between an employer and employees.
Reasoning: The state has police powers: safety, health, morals, and general welfare of the public and this statute does not fall within any of those. The right to purchase or sell labor is part of the “liberty” protected by the 14th amendment. Justice Peckham goes on with a list of horribles argument stating that if we allow this law then states will be able to do whatever they want because they can always say their law relates to their police power.
Justice Holmes dissent: State laws may regulate life in many ways which me might find “injudicious” or “tyrannical” and interfere with the liberty to contract. But so do school laws, the post office, and taxes.
Justice Harlan’s dissent: Legislation should never be “disregarded or held invalid unless it be, beyond question, plainly and palpably in excess of legislative power.” This statute was enacted to protect bakery employees and does not apply to all kinds of businesses. It was designed to protect the health of these workman because breathing the air is not healthy. The court should sustain the statute because it has not be shown that it was plainly and palpably inconsistent with the Federal Constitution.