United States 1905

Synopsis

In 1897, in response to wretched working conditions at bakeries in New York State, the state legislature enacted the New York Bakeshop Act, as part of the New York State Labor Law. Among other provisions, the act limited the hours that bakers could work. A bakery owner named Joseph Lochner from Utica, New York, subsequently challenged the Bakeshop Act in court, and the suit eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's upholding of Lochner's challenge to the New York Bakeshop Act became a landmark decision in support of laissez-faire economics and the newly invented legal doctrine of "substantive due process." It also touched off what is commonly known as the "Lochner Era," wherein the Court struck down many economic and labor regulations as violating the rights of businesses. The Lochner Era is viewed in...