The rise of economic substantive due process came with the decision made in the 1905 Supreme Court case, Lochner v. New York. The Bakeshop Act, put into effect by the state of New York, was made to limit the number of working hours for bakers. Joseph Lochner, a bakeshop owner, violated a provision of the act that held that bakers could not work more than ten hours in one day or sixty hours in one week. When faced with the consequences for violating this provision, Lochner challenged the law by claiming it was a violation of the due process clause under the 14th Amendment. He claimed that this was a violation of his liberty of contract and that he had the right to enter into contracts of this nature with his employees. The Supreme Court …show more content…
At the time, this seemed like a good defense because of the decisions in both Lochner v. New York and Adkins v. Children’s Hospital. The Supreme Court had ruled in both cases that the laws were unconstitutional. In Lochner v. New York, the law had been in violation of the 14th Amendment’s due process clause and the liberty to contract. The 1923 case of Adkins v. Children’s Hospital was struck down because it was enacted by the District of Columbia, making it a federal law and subject to the due process clause under the Fifth Amendment. These cases show the precedent that had been set up by the Supreme Court to rule against the state and its use of police powers. The Supreme Court ended up straying away from this precedent and upheld the minimum wage law that the state of Washington enacted. Thus, ruling in favor of Parrish and overturning the previous decision made in Adkins v. Children’s …show more content…
Parrish was written by Justice George Sutherland. He was the Justice that had written the majority opinion for Adkins v. Children’s Hospital, which was overturned by this case. His preliminary point in the opinion is that the Supreme Court’s job is to interpret the constitution. The Supreme Court can only exercise judicial review when cases and controversies arise and are brought to the Supreme Court. He also emphasizes his position against a living constitution, which he thought had been employed by Justice Hughes in the case. Justice Sutherland thinks that the minimum wage law is arbitrary and consequential to some. In his opinion, minimum wage laws arbitrarily prefer the interests of the employee over the employer and that women are treated as if they can’t protect their own interests. A consequence of minimum wage laws are that some people may be priced out of the labor market. Justice Hughes responded to the philosophical and policy objections to a minimum wage by reiterating Justice Holmes’ opinion from Adkins v. Children’s Hospital. Justice Holmes had stated that if it is not in the interest of the business to pay someone a certain wage then they don’t have to employ that person. With the ruling of West Coast Hotel Company v. Parrish, came the downfall of economic substantive due process and particularly the liberty of contract. After this case, the due process clause will no longer be a preferred method