Weaver v. Palmer Bros. Co.

Weaver v. Palmer Brothers Company, 270 U.S. 402 (1926), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court struck down a public health and safety regulation as a violation of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Weaver v. Palmer Brothers Company
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 11, 1925 Decided March 8, 1926
Full case name	Weaver v. Palmer Brothers Company
Citations	270 U.S. 402 (more) 46 S. Ct. 320; 70 L. Ed. 654; 1926 U.S. LEXIS 420
Court membership
Chief Justice William H. Taft Associate Justices Oliver W. Holmes Jr. · Willis Van Devanter James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis George Sutherland · Pierce Butler Edward T. Sanford · Harlan F. Stone
Case opinions
Majority	Butler, joined by Taft, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland, Sanford
Dissent	Holmes, joined by Brandeis, Stone
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Background

A statute banned the use of cut up fabrics in the manufacturing of bedding based on concerns over public health. The statute did allow for the use of other second hand fabrics after sterilization.

Opinion of the Court

Because the banned cut up fabrics could be rendered safe by the same process of sterilization, the Court held the statute to be an arbitrary infringement on business that violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

External links

• Text of Weaver v. Palmer Bros. Co., 270 U.S. 402 (1926) is available from: Justia Library of Congress