Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
The White Court (1916-1921). Seated, from left to right: Justices William R. Day, Joseph McKenna, and Chief Justice Edward D. White, and Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and Willis Van Devanter. Standing, from left to right: Louis D. Brandeis, Mahlon Pitney, James C. McReynolds, and John H. Clarke.
Children working in a factory
Children working in a factory
Writing for a 5-4 Court, Justice Day held that the federal law “does not regulate transportation among the States, but aims to standardize the ages at which children may be employed.” He added that “Congress can “regulate commerce,” not “control the States in their exercise of the police power over local trade.”
Implied Powers in the Progressive Era
Champion established the rule that Congress’s power to regulate commerce includes the power to prohibit commerce. In Hammer v. Dagenhart, the Court considered whether Congress could prohibit the shipment of products manufactured by children.
Hammer divided the Court 5-4. Justice Day wrote the majority opinion. He considered why Congress enacted the child labor law. The federal law, he said, “does not regulate transportation among the States, but aims to standardize the ages at which children may be employed.” Day added that Congress can “regulate commerce.” However, the federal government cannot “control the States in their exercise of the police power over local trade.”