You are on page 1of 3

MEYER v.

NEBRASKA

Case Basics
Docket No. 325
Petitioner :Meyer
Responden:t Nebraska
Decided By :Taft Court (1923-1925)
Opinion :262 U.S. 390 (1923)
Argued :Friday, February 23, 1923
Decided :Monday, June 4, 1923
Term: 1901-1939
1922
Location: School of Evangelical Lutheran Zion's
Church
Facts of the Case
Nebraska, along with other states, prohibited the
teaching of modern foreign languages to grade
school children. Meyer, who taught German in a
Lutheran school, was convicted under this law.
Question
Does the Nebraska statute violate the
Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process clause?
Conclusion
Yes, the Nebraska law is unconstitutional.
Nebraska violated the liberty protected by due
process of the Fourteenth Amendment. Liberty
means more than freedom from bodily restraint.
State regulation of liberty must be reasonably
related to a proper state objective. The

legislature's view of reasonableness was subject


to supervision by the courts. The legislative
purpose of the law was to promote assimilation
and civic development. But these purposes were
not adequate to justify interfering with Meyer's
liberty to teach or the liberty of parents to
employ him during a "time of peace and
domestic tranquillity."

PIERCE v. SOCIETY OF SISTERS


Case Basics
Docket No. :583
Petitioner :Pierce
Respondent :Society of Sisters
Decided By
;Taft Court (1925-1930)
Opinion :268 U.S. 510 (1925)
Argued :Monday, March 16, 1925
Decided :Monday, June 1, 1925
Term: 1901-1939
o 1924
Location: Congress
Facts of the Case
The Compulsory Education Act of 1922 required parents or guardians to send children between the
ages of eight and sixteen to public school in the district where the children resided. The Society of
Sisters was an Oregon corporation which facilitated care for orphans, educated youths, and
established and maintained academies or schools. This case was decided together with Pierce v.
Hill Military Academy.
Question
Did the Act violate the liberty of parents to direct the education of their children?
Conclusion
Yes. The unanimous Court held that "the fundamental liberty upon which all governments in this
Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them
to accept instruction from public teachers only."

The Society of Sisters was an Oregon corporation, organized in 1880, with power to carefor
orphans, educate and instruct the youth, establish and maintain academies or schools, andacquire
necessary real and personal property. The Society's bill alleges that the enactment
conflicts with the right of parents to choose
schools where their children will receive
appropriatemental and religious training, the

right of the child to influence the parents'


choice of a school,the right of schools and
teachers therein to engage in a useful business
or profession, and isaccordingly repugnant to the
Constitution and void. And, further, that, unless
enforcement of themeasure is enjoined the
corporation's business and property will suffer
irreparable injury.

You might also like