Adair v. United States

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Adair v. United States
ArgueDate=October 29
ArgueYear=1907
DecideDate=January 27
DecideYear=1908
FullName=William Adair, Plff. in Err. v. United States
USVol=208
USPage=161
Citation=28 S. Ct. 277; 52 L. Ed. 436; 1908 U.S. LEXIS 1431
Prior=Error to the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Kentucky
Subsequent=
Holding=
SCOTUS=1906-1909
Majority=Harlan
JoinMajority=Fuller, Brewer, White, Peckham, Day
Dissent=McKenna
Dissent2=Holmes
NotParticipating=Moody
LawsApplied=

"Adair v. United States", ussc|208|161|1908, was a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld "yellow-dog" contracts that forbade workers from joining trade unions.

The case

William Adair, an official with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, had fired O. B. Coppage for belonging to a labor union. Adair's actions were in direct violation of the Erdman Act of 1898, which at the time prohibited railroads that engaged in interstate commerce from requiring that their employees refrain from membership in a labor union as a condition of employment.

The decision

The Supreme Court, on a 6-2 decision, held that the Erdman Act was unconstitutional, because it unjustly violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, which guaranteed freedom of contract and property rights. Furthermore, the court established that Congress' control over interstate commerce did not extend to membership in trade unions. The decision reflects the consistently pro-business slant that the Court took prior to 1910. In 1932, yellow-dog contracts were outlawed in the United States under the Norris-LaGuardia Act.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 208

External links

* [http://laws.findlaw.com/us/208/161.html Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com]