Question

What was the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Locher versus New York

Answer 1

Answer:The US Supreme Court invalidated a New York State statute forbidding bakers from working more than 10 hours per day, or 60 hours per week. The 5-4 divided Court held the law was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause because it restricted workers' liberty right to freely contract with their employers. Lochner represents an early use of Substantive Due Process purported to protect workers' rights, but generally favored industry over labor.

Explanation:The State of New York passed labor laws in 1897 that, among other things, restricted the ability of bakeries to force employees to work more than 10 hours per day, or 60 hours per week, on the grounds that longer work hours had a negative affect on employees' health.

Lochner owned a bakery and had been convicted on two separate occasions of violating the statute after being indicted for "wrongfully and unlawfully [requiring and permitting] an employee working for him in his biscuit, bread and cake bakery and confectionery establishment, at the city of Utica, in this county, to work more than sixty hours in one week." He was subsequently convicted and fined $50 for the second offense, and ordered confined to jail until the penalty was paid.