Nebbia v. New York 1934
| Author | Daniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw |
| Pages | 972-977 |
Page 972
Appellant: Leo Nebbia
Appellee: State of New York
Appellant's Claim: That New York's Milk Control Act of 1934 violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause by unconstitutionally restricting business decisions.
Chief Lawyer for Appellant: Arthur E. Sutherland
Chief Lawyer for Appellee: Henry S. Manley
Justices for the Court: Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Charles Evans Hughes, Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone
Justices Dissenting: Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter
Date of Decision: March 5, 1934
Decision: Ruled in favor of New York by finding that the state of New York had acted under its police powers in the best interest of its citizens.
Significance: The ruling established that any business activity could be subject to state regulation. The decision ended the longstanding distinction between businesses considered operating for the public good which could be regulated, and those not of direct public interest which could not be regulated. The decision marked the beginning of greater state government regulation of private economic activities.
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"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." So reads the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in its entirety. The amendment was written and adopted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791 to soothe states' rights proponents during formation of the U.S. government.
Originally, the Articles of Confederation written in 1781 gave almost all governmental powers to the states with few to the federal government. The nation was a loose union of sovereign (politically independent) states. But in only a few years, it became evident that growth of the young nation, particularly business growth and economic development, needed consistency in rules and protection that only a strong central government could provide.
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in 1787 to correct this problem. After intense debate between supporters of a strong central government and proponents of states rights, a governmental structure with a strong central government was selected. With a great distaste for strong central governments lingering in the country following political battles and war with the British government, the first ten constitutional amendments were written to protect citizens and the states from potentially oppressive national government powers. The Tenth Amendment reserved...
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