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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
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