Child Labor Amendment Explained

The Child Labor Amendment is a proposed and still-pending amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate "labor of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1924,[1] following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922 that federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 were unconstitutional.

The majority of the state legislatures ratified the amendment by the mid-1930s; however, it has not been ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states according to Article V of the Constitution and none has ratified it since 1937. Interest in the amendment waned following the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which implemented federal regulation of child labor with the Supreme Court's approval in 1941.

The amendment was itself the subject of a 1939 Supreme Court decision, Coleman v. Miller (307 U.S. 433), regarding its putative expiration. As Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, the amendment is still pending before the states. Ratification by an additional ten states would be necessary for this amendment to come into force. In recent years, lawmakers in several states have introduced resolutions to ratify the amendment.

Background

See also: Child labor laws in the United States. With the Keating–Owen Act of 1916, the United States Congress had attempted to regulate interstate commerce involving goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 or 16, depending on the type of work. The Supreme Court found this law unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918). Later that year, Congress attempted to levy a tax on businesses with employees under the ages of 14 or 16 (again depending on the type of work), which was struck down by the Supreme Court in Bailey v. Drexel Furniture (1922). It became apparent that a constitutional amendment would be necessary for such legislation to overcome the Court's objections.[2]

Legislative history

The amendment was offered by Ohio Republican Congressman Israel Moore Foster on April 26, 1924, during the 68th Congress, in the form of House Joint Resolution No. 184.

House Joint Resolution No. 184 was adopted by the United States House of Representatives on April 26, 1924, with a vote of 297 yeas, 69 nays, 2 absent and 64 not voting.[3] It was then adopted by the Senate on June 2, 1924, with a vote of 61 yeas, 23 nays and 12 not voting. And with that, the proposed constitutional amendment was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification pursuant to Article V of the Constitution.

Ratification history

Having been approved by Congress, the proposed amendment was sent to the state legislatures for ratification and was ratified by the following states:[4]

  1. Arkansas – June 28, 1924
  2. California – January 8, 1925
  3. Arizona – January 29, 1925
  4. Wisconsin – February 25, 1925
  5. Montana – February 11, 1927
  6. Colorado – April 28, 1931
  7. Oregon – January 31, 1933
  8. Washington – February 3, 1933
  9. North Dakota – March 4, 1933 (After State Senate rejection – January 28, 1925)
  10. Ohio – March 22, 1933
  11. Michigan – May 10, 1933
  12. New Hampshire – May 17, 1933 (After rejection – March 18, 1925)
  13. New Jersey – June 12, 1933
  14. Illinois – June 30, 1933
  15. Oklahoma – July 5, 1933
  16. Iowa – December 5, 1933 (After State House rejection – March 11, 1925)
  17. West Virginia – December 12, 1933
  18. Minnesota – December 14, 1933 (After rejection – April 14, 1925)
  19. Maine – December 16, 1933 (After rejection – April 10, 1925)
  20. Pennsylvania – December 21, 1933 (After rejection – April 16, 1925)
  21. Wyoming – January 31, 1935
  22. Utah – February 5, 1935 (After rejection – February 4, 1925)
  23. Idaho – February 7, 1935 (After State House rejection – February 7, 1925)
  24. Indiana – February 8, 1935 (After State Senate rejection – February 5, 1925 and State House rejection - March 5, 1925)
  25. Kentucky – January 13, 1937 (After rejection – March 24, 1926)
  26. Nevada – January 29, 1937
  27. New Mexico – February 12, 1937 (After rejection – 1935)
  28. Kansas – February 25, 1937 (After rejection – January 30, 1925)

The following fifteen state legislatures rejected the Child Labor Amendment and did not subsequently ratify it:

  1. Connecticut - February 11, 1925 (State Senate Rejection — February 5, 1925 and State House rejection - February 11, 1925)[5] [6]
  2. Delaware - 1925 (State Senate and State House Rejection — January 28 1925)[7] [8]
  3. Florida - 1925 (State Senate Rejection — April 15, 1925 and State House Rejection April 29, 1925)[9] [10]
  4. Georgia - August 6, 1924[11]
  5. Louisiana - 1924
  6. Maryland - March 18, 1927[12]
  7. Massachusetts - Rejected by Voters in a referendum on November 4, 1924[13]
  8. Missouri - 1925 (State Senate Rejection — March 20, 1925 and State House Rejection — March 3, 1925)[14] [15]
  9. North Carolina - August 23rd, 1924[16]
  10. South Carolina - 1925 (State Senate Rejection — January 27, 1925 and State House Rejection — January 21, 1925)[17] [18]
  11. South Dakota - 1925, 1933 and 1937
  12. Tennessee - 1925
  13. Texas - 1925 (State Senate Rejection — January 26, 1925 and State House Rejection — January 27, 1925)[19] [20]
  14. Vermont - 1925
  15. Virginia - 1926[4]

Although the act, on the part of state legislatures, of "rejecting" a proposed constitutional amendment has no legal recognition, such action does have political ramifications.

Of the 48 states in the Union in 1924, five have taken no action of record on the amendment: Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and Rhode Island; neither have Alaska nor Hawaii, both of which became states in 1959.[4]

Renewed ratification attempts

In 2021 and 2022, a concurrent resolution to ratify the Child Labor Amendment passed in the Hawaii Senate with bipartisan support but stalled in the Hawaii House of Representatives.[21] [22] In 2024, a resolution to ratify the amendment passed in the Connecticut House of Representatives but was not brought up for a vote in the Connecticut Senate.[23] [24] Since 2018, ratification resolutions have also been introduced in New York,[25] Rhode Island,[26] Nebraska,[27] and Maryland,[28] as was a resolution in Minnesota reaffirming the state's ratification from 1933.[29]

Supporters of ratification, such as University of San Diego School of Law professor Jessica Heldman and Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, have argued that the amendment could strengthen existing federal child labor protections, especially with some states loosening their child labor laws in recent years.[30] [31] [32] Nebraska State Senator Carol Blood, who introduced a bill to ratify the amendment, stated that it would only be "ratifying what is already in law", and making a statement that Nebraska "missed an opportunity to do better".[33] In Connecticut, a ratification resolution was supported by the state's AFL-CIO chapter and other union leaders.[34] [35] The amendment is supported by the Child Labor Coalition.[36]

Presently, there being 50 states in the Union, the amendment will remain inoperative unless it is ratified by an additional 10 states to reach the necessary threshold of 38 states.

Judicial history

Only five states adopted the amendment in the 1920s. Ten of the states initially balked, then re-examined their position during the 1930s and decided to ratify. These delayed decisions resulted in many controversies and resulted in the 1939 Supreme Court case Coleman v. Miller (307 U.S. 433) in which it was determined that the Child Labor Amendment remained pending before the state legislatures because the 68th Congress did not specify any deadline. The ruling also formed the basis of the unusual and belated ratification of the 27th Amendment which was proposed by Congress in 1789 and ratified more than two centuries later in 1992 by the legislatures of at least three-fourths of the 50 states.

The common legal opinion on federal child labor regulation reversed in the 1930s. Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 regulating the employment of those under 16 or 18 years of age. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of that law in United States v. Darby Lumber Co. (1941), which overturned Hammer v. Dagenhart – one of the key decisions that had motivated the proponents of the Child Labor Amendment. After this shift, the amendment has been described as "moot"[37] and lost the momentum that had once propelled it;[38] hence, the movement for it has advanced no further.[39]

If ever ratified by the required number of U.S. state legislatures, the Child Labor Amendment would repose in the Congress of the United States shared jurisdiction with the states to legislate on the subject of child labor.

Opposition

In 1933, J. Gresham Machen, who was a major voice at the time for Evangelical Fundamentalism and conservative politics, delivered a paper called Mountains and Why We Love Them, which was read before a group of ministers in Philadelphia on November 27, 1933. In passing he mentions the Child Labor Amendment and says "Will the so-called 'Child Labor Amendment' and other similar measures be adopted, to the destruction of all the decencies and privacies of the home?"[40]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. 65 Congressional Record 10142
  2. Web site: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 . Our Documents . National Archives . October 20, 2012.
  3. 65 Congressional Record 7294-7295
  4. Book: The Constitution of the United States and Amendments Thereto. 1961. Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government. 68–69. James J. Kilpatrick.
  5. Book: Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Connecticut . State of Connecticut . 1925 . Hickey . Daniel . 418 . en.
  6. Book: Journal of the Senate of the State of Connecticut . State of Connecticut . 1925 . Baker . J. Frederick . 379 . en.
  7. Book: Journal of the House of Representatives at a session of the General Assembly . Milford Chronicle Publishing Company . 1925 . 126 . en.
  8. Book: Journal of the Senate of the State of Delaware, at a session of the General Assembly . Milford Chronicle Publishing Company . 1925 . 90 . en.
  9. Book: Journal of the State Senate of Florida of the Session of 1925 . F. J. Appleyard . 1925 . 172 . en.
  10. Book: Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida . Appleyard . 984 . en.
  11. Book: Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of Georgia . Stein Printing Co., State Printers . 1924 . 833 . en.
  12. Web site: Archives of Maryland, Volume 0569, Page 1643 - Session Laws, 1927 . 2023-05-17 . msa.maryland.gov.
  13. Web site: Massachusetts Federal Child Labor Law, Question 7 (1924) . 2023-05-17 . Ballotpedia . en.
  14. Book: Journal of the Senate of the State of Missouri . 1925 . 773 . en.
  15. Book: Journal of the House of the State of Missouri . 1925 . 705 . en.
  16. Book: Public Laws and Resolutions Enacted by the Extra Session of the General Assembly of 1924 . Mitchell Printing Company . 1924 . 219 . en.
  17. Book: Journal of the House of Representatives of the First Session of the 77th General Assembly of the State of South Carolina . Joint Committee on Printing . 1925 . 94 . en.
  18. Book: Journal of the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina . Gonzales and Bryan . 1925 . 104 . en.
  19. Book: Journal of the Texas State Senate . 1925 . 127–8 . en.
  20. Book: Journal of the Texas House of Representatives. . 1925 . 206 . en.
  21. Web site: SCR99 SD1 HD1 (2021) . . 8 July 2022.
  22. Web site: SCR8 (2022) . . 8 July 2022.
  23. Web site: Kamphausen . Hudson . House Votes Yes On Federal Child Labor Amendment, Waits For Senate . CT News Junkie . 2024-05-01 . 2024-05-05.
  24. Web site: RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES PERMITTING CONGRESS TO REGULATE CHILD LABOR . . 8 March 2024 .
  25. Web site: New York State Assembly Bill Search and Legislative Information. 2020-07-14. www.nyassembly.gov.
  26. Web site: 2021 - S0438 . . 8 July 2022.
  27. Web site: LR5 - Legislative resolution to ratify an amendment to the Constitution to the United States relating to regulation of child labor . . 6 January 2023.
  28. Web site: HJ0007 . Maryland General Assembly . 2024-03-17.
  29. Web site: HF 3275 . . 8 March 2024 .
  30. Web site: Heldman . Jessica K. . There is More Work to Be Done to Eliminate Oppressive Child Labor . American Constitution Society . 2023-05-10 . 2024-03-17.
  31. Web site: Hiltzik . Michael . Column: The carnage from the rollback of child labor laws is just starting . Los Angeles Times . 2023-07-24 . 2024-03-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104042615/https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-07-24/the-carnage-from-the-rollback-of-child-labor-laws-is-just-starting . 2024-01-04.
  32. Web site: The Forgotten History of the Child Labor Amendment . TIME . 2024-05-13 . 2024-05-14.
  33. Web site: Wendling . Zach . Supporters of child labor resolution say it could make Nebraska ‘new champion’ • Nebraska Examiner . Nebraska Examiner . 2023-03-03 . 2024-03-25.
  34. Web site: Melita . Rick . Revisiting Child Labor Laws in the New Gilded Age: A Call for Action . CT News Junkie . 2024-03-04 . 2024-03-17.
  35. Web site: Testimony For Bill Number HJ-00217 In All Committees . 2024-03-25 . Connecticut General Assembly . 2024-03-25 .
  36. Web site: Put Maryland on the Correct Side of History: Ratify the Child Labor Amendment of 1924 . Maryland General Assembly. Children's Advocacy Institute . 2024-05-09.
  37. Book: Vile, John R. . Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2002 . 63 . ABC-CLIO . 2003 . 9781851094288.
  38. Book: Strauss, David A. . The Living Constitution . 125–126 . 2010 . Oxford University Press . 9780195377279.
  39. Book: Griffin, Stephen M. . American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics . registration . Stephen M. Griffin . 1998 . 9780691002408 . Princeton University Press . 89.
  40. Gresham Machen. J.. Mountains and Why We Love Them. Christianity Today. August 1934.

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