The Lochner V. New York Decision Of 1905

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The Lochner v. New York decision of 1905 is a landmark case. The US Supreme Court ruled that a New York law setting maximum working hours for bakers was unconstitutional. The court held that the Constitution prohibits states from interfering with most employment contracts, also referring to the 14th Amendment was violated. This decision is said to have led to the abolition of many progressive era and Great Depression laws adjusting working conditions. In 1897, the state of New York passed a labor law also known as the Bakeshop Act. A New York law outlawed the hours of bakery employees for more than sixty hours a week, ten hours in a day in one week. Joseph Lochner, owner of Lochner’s Home Bakery was fined fifty dollars for violating this act.