United States v. Darby - Significance, Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Fair Labor Standards Act, Further Readings

appellant appellee justices decision

Appellant

United States

Appellee

Fred W. Darby

Appellant's Claim

That the Constitution grants Congress power under the Commerce Clause to regulate workers' hours and wages.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant

Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Attorney General; Francis Biddle, U.S. Solicitor General

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

Archibald B. Lovett

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, Charles Evans Hughes, Frank Murphy, Stanley Forman Reed, Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

None (James Clark McReynolds did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

3 February 1941

Decision

The Supreme Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 regulating wages and hours.

Related Cases

Hammer v Dagenhart, 247 U.S. 251 (1918).
Maryland v. Wirtz, 392 U.S. 183 (1968).
National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U.S. 833 (1976).
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, 469 U.S. 528 (1985).

Additional Topics

United States v. Darby - Significance

Darby was part of a running Court debate that began in 1903, when it upheld legislation forbidding interstate transportation of lottery tickets. The twentieth century has seen other attempts--including the act under consideration here--to make the Commerce Clause a means of promoting the public welfare on a national scale. In 1938, Congress passed the last major piece of New Deal legislation, the …

United States v. Darby - Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Fair Labor Standards Act

Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Stone upheld the act as an appropriate exercise of Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. First, however, he had to address a Supreme Court precedent that pointed the other way. In Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the Court struck down federal legislation aimed at controlling child labor. Based on the Commerce Clause, the Child Labor Act was found to be…

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