Lochner v New York Case

Naomi Zimmermann

Lochner v. New York Case

The Lochner v. New York Case was a case where the supreme court ruled that the state of New York could not limit hours of employment for bakers because it was unconstitutional. The case was settled in 5-4 decision that ruled the Bakeshop Act unconstitutional.

In 1897, the state of New York passed a law called the Bakeshop Act that limited the amount of time that bakers worked every week to 60 hours. But, there were many that were opposed to it. This included bakers themselves, who felt that their freedom to contract for labor had been violated, a right that was guaranteed to them under the 14th Amendment. Employers of bakers also weren’t happy about it, as it meant that they weren’t going to have as much labor and therefore their means of production was reduced.

The case set a precedent for many other laws that had previously regulated and restricted working hours and conditions to be overturned because of the freedom of contract(of labor).

The Fourteenth Amendment was used to overrule the Bakeshop Act because the due process under the law ensures that citizens will not be robbed of life, liberty, or justice. The freedom of contract of labor was, under flexible conditions, interpreted as a liberty that cannot be denied under the law of the constitution.

The court did concede that other industries, that are “unhealthy,” such as the mining industry may reasonably be regulated and policed under the law, but that the baking industry was not one of these said “unhealthy industries” and therefore it was unconstitutional to regulate working hours because it infringed upon the right to contract and therefore was in violation of the 14th Amendment.

External Link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/landmark_lochner.html