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Lochner vs. New York, 198 U.S. 45

LOCHNER v. PEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK, 198 U.S. 45

198 U.S. 45 | 1905-04-17

U.S. Supreme Court

LOCHNER v. PEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)

198 U.S. 45

JOSEPH LOCHNER, Plff. in Err.,  v. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

No. 292. 

Argued February 23, 24, 1905. 
Decided April 17, 1905. 

The general right to make a contract in relation to his business is part of the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, and this includes the right to purchase and sell labor, except as controlled by the State in the legitimate exercise of its police power.

Liberty of contract relating to labor includes both parties to it; the one has as much right to purchase as the other to sell labor.

There is...