Lochner
Issue:
• right of contract (sell and buy labor) vs. legitimate “police powers” of the state
• not all contracts are valid (e.g., illegal contracts are not)
• legitmate police powers include power to make laws to protect public health
• Law: prevents bakers from working for more than ten hours a day
Majority Opinion
• Law restricts freedom of contract:
(a) prevents bakers from entering into contracts to work longer hours
(b) prevents bakery-owners from making agreements with bakers
• Law is not a health law, because it serves no legitimate health purpose:
(a) being a baker is not that dangerous
(b) the dangers are to the baker only, who voluntarily agrees to be in the situation
• Key points:
(a) freedom of contract is an essential part of freedom generally speaking (see
Nozick)
(b) invocation of harm principle: baking is dangerous only to bakers, who have
entered into contracts voluntarily
Harlan (dissenting opinion)
• Baking really is that unhealthy
• When making contracts, employers and employees are not on “equal footing”. This
allows employers to dictate terms and undermines the voluntariness of these
contracts.
• NY law is a health law. It aims at protecting the health of the bakers, which the
bakers are unable to protect for themselves (given the inequality between them and
their employers).
• The Majority Opinion refuses to acknowledge this point about “unequal footing” and
its ramifications for freedom of contract.
Coppage
Law: The Kansas law in question prevented employers from requiring employees to sign
an agreement stating they would not join a union.
Coppage Majority directly rejects the “unequal footing” argument.
• All bargaining reflects inequalities between parties
• Freedom of contract and private property inevitably generate inequality
• Therefore if all contracts are rendered invalid by “unequal footing”, the only solution
is to eliminate freedom of contract and private property
Majority also argues that Kansas law restricts right to maximum benefit:
• All bargaining reflects the facts about inequalities between the bargaining parties.
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