A 1905 United States Supreme Court decision striking down a New York law limiting bakers' working hours as an unconstitutional interference with freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Its approach, reading a specific economic theory into the Constitution, gave its name to the Lochner era of the Court's history and drew a landmark dissent from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingA New York statute limiting bakers to sixty hours' work a week violated the bakers' right to freedom of contract under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the statute failed the rational-basis test because long hours did not meaningfully endanger bakers' health. 2 Current StatusNot formally overruled by name, but its freedom-of-contract doctrine was repudiated by West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937), which is treated as ending the Lochner era; no longer good law. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category)Overruled (in whole or part) 1 FAQs
What did Lochner v. New York decide?
A 5-4 ruling in 1905 striking down New York's limit on bakers' hours.
On April 17, 1905, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in favor of Lochner that struck down the New York Bakeshop Act's limits on bakers' working hours as unconstitutional. The statute limited bakers to sixty hours of work a week and was held to violate the bakers' right to freedom of contract under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Is Lochner v. New York still good law?
Not overruled by name, but its doctrine was repudiated in 1937.
It was not formally overruled by name, but its freedom-of-contract doctrine was repudiated by West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937), which is treated as ending the Lochner era.
Connections
Associated With
Lochner is the namesake case for the substantive due process line of reasoning the Due Process doctrine page should read as a discredited episode within, not as the doctrine's current shape.
Source The Oyez Project
Authored By
Source Lochner v. New York (Wikipedia)
Decided By
In Legal System
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. The Oyez Project
Oyez case summary, Conclusion section
The majority reasoned that the Bakeshop Act had no rational basis because long working hours did not dramatically undermine the health of employees, and baking is not particularly dangerous.
- Decided By: United States Supreme Court
- In Legal System: Common Law
- Associated With: Due Process
2. Lochner v. New York (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia 'Supreme Court decision' section
On April 17, 1905, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in favor of Lochner that struck down the New York Bakeshop Act's limits on bakers' working hours as unconstitutional.
Wikipedia lead section, holding statement
was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court holding that a New York State statute that prescribed maximum working hours for bakers violated the bakers' right to freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- Authored By: Rufus Wheeler Peckham, Infobox majority field: Peckham
In Group: Liberty, Emergency Powers and Social Rights Cases, Introduction, sentence 1
Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court holding that a New York State statute that prescribed maximum working hours for bakers violated the bakers' right to freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
View the Source Wikidata: Lochner v. New York
Wikidata Q3257729, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.