by John Marshall Harlan

Name: Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion
Author: by John Marshall Harlan

Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

Summary

“Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion”, is a work by by John Marshall Harlan. It explores elements such as bakers, statute and confectionery.

Quotes from Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion (by John Marshall Harlan)

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ Suppose the statute prohibited labor in bakery and confectionery establishments in excess of eighteen hours each day. No one, I take it, could dispute the power of the State to enact such a statute. But the statute [p72] before us does not embrace extreme or exceptional cases. It may be said to occupy a middle ground in respect of the hours of labor. What is the true ground for the State to take between legitimate protection, by legislation, of the public health and liberty of contract is not a question easily solved, nor one in respect of which there is or can be absolute certainty. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ There are many reasons of a weighty, substantial character, based upon the experience of mankind, in support of the theory that, all things considered, more than ten hours' steady work each day, from week to week, in a bakery or confectionery establishment, may endanger the health, and shorten the lives of the workmen, thereby diminishing their physical and mental capacity to serve the State, and to provide for those dependent upon them. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ If there be doubt as to the validity of the statute, that doubt must therefore be resolved in favor of its validity, and the courts must keep their hands off, leaving the legislature to meet the responsibility for unwise legislation. If the end which the legislature seeks to accomplish be one to which its power extends, and if the means employed to that end, although not the wisest or best, are yet not plainly and palpably unauthorized by law, then the court cannot interfere. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ No evils arising from such legislation could be more far-reaching than those that might come to our system of government if the judiciary, abandoning the sphere assigned to it by the fundamental law, should enter the domain of legislation, and upon grounds merely of justice or reason or wisdom, annul statutes that had received the sanction of the people's representatives. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ But it is equally true — indeed, the public interests imperatively demand — that legislative enactments should be recognized and enforced by the courts as embodying the will of the people unless they are plainly and palpably, beyond all question, in violation of the fundamental law of the Constitution. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ Speaking generally, the State, in the exercise of its powers, may not unduly interfere with the right of the citizen to enter into contracts that may be necessary and essential in the enjoyment of the inherent rights belonging to everyone, among which rights is the right
to be free in the enjoyment of all his faculties; to be free to use them in all lawful ways; to live and work where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any livelihood or avocation. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ It is hard, very hard work, not only because it requires a great deal of physical exertion in an overheated workshop and during unreasonably long hours, but more so because of the erratic demands of the public, compelling the baker to perform the greater part of his work at night, thus depriving him of an opportunity to enjoy the necessary rest and sleep, a fact which is highly injurious to his health. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ We judicially know that the question of the number of hours during which a workman should continuously labor has been, for a long period, and is yet, a subject of serious consideration among civilized peoples and by those having special knowledge of the laws of health. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ The average age of a baker is below that of other workmen; they seldom live over their fiftieth year, most of them dying between the ages of forty and fifty. During periods of epidemic diseases, the bakers are generally the first to succumb to the disease, and the number swept away during such periods far exceeds the number of other crafts in comparison to the men employed in the respective industries. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ Be this as it may, the statute must be taken as expressing the belief of the people of New York that, as a general rule, and in the case of the average man, labor in excess of sixty hours during a week in such establishments may endanger the health of those who thus labor. Whether or not this be wise legislation it is not the province of the court to inquire. Under our systems of government, the courts are not concerned with the wisdom or policy of legislation. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ Shorter hours of work, by allowing higher standards of comfort and purer family life, promise to enhance the industrial efficiency of the wage-working class — improved health, longer life, more content and greater intelligence and inventiveness. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ So that, in determining the question of power to interfere with liberty of contract, the court may inquire whether the means devised by the State are germane to an end which may be lawfully accomplished and have a real or substantial relation to the protection of health, as involved in the daily work of the persons, male and female, engaged in bakery and confectionery establishments. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ The eyes also suffer through this dust, which is responsible for the many cases of running eyes among the bakers. The long hours of toil to which all bakers are subjected produce rheumatism, cramps and swollen legs. The intense heat in the workshops induces the workers to resort to cooling drinks, which, together with their habit of exposing the greater part of their bodies to the change in the atmosphere, is another source of a number of diseases of various organs. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

by John Marshall Harlan, Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion

“ Health laws of every description constitute, said Chief Justice Marshall, a part of that mass of legislation which
embraces everything within the territory of a State not surrendered to the General Government; all which can be most advantageously exercised by the States themselves. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 203. A decision that the New York statute is void under the Fourteenth Amendment will, in my opinion, involve consequences of a far-reaching and mischievous character ”

by John Marshall Harlan

Summary

Quotes from Lochner v. New York — Dissenting Opinion (by John Marshall Harlan)

Common terms

Similar works

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature