Although Justice Douglas wrote that “racism as a constitutional principle was emphatically rejected” in Yick Wo, he noted that on May 15, 1893, the Supreme Court provided a dark day for resident aliens. However, in discussing the case, Justice Douglas focused on Justice David J. Brewer, a conservative justice, who became a champion of individual rights.
My Country – Federal Employers’ Liability Act On April 22, 1908, Congress passed the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which governed the liability of interstate railroads. Under FELA, railroad workers who are not covered by regular workers’ compensation laws were able to sue companies for their injury claims. Why Was This Necessary? Justice Douglas recounts a story about a butcher …
My Country – Lochner & Judges and Social Legislation Although I mentioned yesterday that Douglas quit his March 1 entry without talking about how courts would later look at regulations, he started where I finished. Justice Douglas notes that for nearly the next sixty years, legislation was declared unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. He listed: a …