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Federal Power To Regulate Interstate Commerce Interpreted Narrowly

1918

In Hammer v. Dagenhart, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a federal statute prohibiting the interstate shipment of goods produced by child laborers is beyond the powers “delegated” to the federal government by the Constitution. The Court rules that under the 10th Amendment, individual states have the right to decide how to regulate the use of child labor in manufacturing. In 1941, Hammer will be overruled by the Court’s decision in United States v. Darby.