Lochner vs. New York

Background

In 1895, the New York Legislature unanimously enacted the Bakeshop Act, which regulated sanitary conditions in bakeries and also prohibited individuals from working in bakeries for more than ten hours per day or sixty hours per week, mainly because minorities could then work longer hours for less money. Lochner was indicted on a charge that he wrongfully and unlawfully permitted an employee working for him to work more than 60 hours a week, and he kept appealing it until it got to the Supreme Court.

Legal Arguments

Lochner argued that the right to freely contract was one of the rights encompassed by substantive due process. His side also argued that a baker's health conditions were fine, no matter how many hours they work. The Supreme Court had also accepted the argument that the due process clause protected the right to contract seven years earlier, in Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897). The argument against Lochner was that the Court had acknowledged that the right to freely contract was not absolute, but subject to the "police power" of the states. For example, in Holden v. Hardy (1898), the Supreme Court upheld a Utah law setting an eight-hour work day for miners. They argued that the police force may be lawfully resorted for the purpose of preserving the public health, safety, or morals, and that having a baker more than 10 hours was a danger to his health.

Opinion

Opinion of the Court- The Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, ruled that the law limiting bakers' working hours did not constitute a legitimate exercise of state police powers. The opinion of the Court was delivered by Justice Rufus Peckham. Peckham argued that the police power was subject to certain limitations; otherwise, he claimed, the Fourteenth Amendment would be meaningless, and states would be able to pass any law using the police power as a pretext. Dissenting Opinion- Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote a dissenting opinion saying that that the liberty to contract is subject to regulation imposed by a state acting within the scope of its police powers. He also argued that the baker's could have breathing problems if they worked too long.

Supreme Court Case

The Supreme Court established the Due Process Clause, which is a limitation on the type of control the government may exercise over individuals. The issue facing the Supreme Court in Lochner v. New York was whether the Bakeshop Act represented a reasonable exercise of the state's police power.