Adkins V. Children's Hospital
Date: 1923
Case Background:
Congress passed a law in 1918, setting minimum wages for women and children in the District of Columbia. A board was established to investigate the current wages and input ideal wage levels and set minimum wages. Issue: The Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia employed women at wages below established wages. The hospital then sued the board which established these wages, accusing that the violated liberty of contract as defined in Lochner V. New York (1905). Decision: The Supreme Court ruled that the minimum wage law for women violated the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. This was because it abridged citizen's right to freely contract labor. Impact: The decision was soon overruled by West Coast Hotel Co V. Parrish in 1937. That case held that states could impose minimum wage regulations on private employers without violating the Due Process Clause. |
Justice: William H. Taft
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