Lochner v. New York
198 U.S. 45 · 1905-04-17
Liberty of contract strikes down a maximum-hours law; Holmes dissents that the Constitution enacts no economic theory.
Edition: U. S. Reports, bound volume
Source: U. S. Reports, volume 198, at 45 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
Voices: Mr. Justice Peckham, · Mr. Justice Harlan, with whom Mr. Justice White and Mr. Justice. Day concurred, dissenting. · Mr. Justice Holmes dissenting.
after making the foregoing statement of the facts, delivered the opinion of the court.
The indictment, it will be seen, charges that the plaintiff in error violated the one hundred and tenth section of article 8, chapter 415, of the Laws of 1897, known as the labor law of the State of New York, in that he wrongfully and unlawfully required and permitted an employé working for him to work more than sixty hours in one week. There is nothing in any of the opinions delivered in this case, either in the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals of the State, which construes the section, in using the word “required,” as referring to any physical force being used to obtain the labor of an…Read it in the reading room ›