Williamson v. Lee Optical - Significance, A Vision Problem In Oklahoma, Substantive Due Process: From Slaughterhouse To Optician's Shop

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Significance

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Further Readings

Williamson v. Lee Optical - A Vision Problem In Oklahoma

Although it would ultimately involve lofty constitutional ideas, Williamson v. Lee Optical arose from a simple and practical set of needs concerning the sale of eyeglasses. Foremost among these, from the perspective of consumers, was the desire to have the fastest, easiest, and cheapest service in fitting a pair of glasses. Such service would likely come from an optician, which the Court would lat…

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Substantive Due Process: From Slaughterhouse To Optician's Shop

At issue in Williamson was the principle of Substantive Due Process, a concept which made its first appearance in the famous Slaughterhouse Cases (1873). The latter cases challenged a state monopoly on slaughterhouses in Louisiana, and were brought by a group of butchers who argued that the policy prevented them from practicing their trade. At that time, Justice Joseph P. Bradley stated that "a la…

Williamson v. Lee Optical - "the Day Is Gone . . . "

Fourteen years later, in Williamson v. Lee Optical, Douglas delivered the opinion for a once again unanimous Court of eight judges. (Justice John Marshall Harlan II, recently sworn in, took no part in the proceedings.) The Court reversed in part and affirmed in part, but none of its rulings favored Lee Optical or the Guild of Prescription Opticians: rather, the Court's ruling reversed those parts …

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Impact

It is interesting to note that both Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973) make mention of Williamson in several places. These two cases, the former involving birth control and the latter abortion, were landmarks not only with regard to personal freedom in sexual matters, but in their "new" application of due process. Williamson, while seemingly striking the final blow against due p…

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Related Cases

Williamson v. Lee Optical - Substantive Due Process

Due process of law, guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, demands fairness for individuals in legal procedures applied by federal and state governments, respectively. Due process judicial deliberations involve both substantive and procedural dimensions. Whereas procedural due process looks at the manner in which individual rights are protected from governmenta…