Nebbia V. New York: A Great Depression Supreme Court Case

The Great Depression was a time of hardship for all Americans. Many laws were passed in both state and federal government. Due to the shortages of food and money, laws were passed that put government regulations on food and prices. This issue was brought up in the Supreme Court Case of Nebbia v. New York in 1934.

The case of Nebbia v. New York started with the passage of emergency legislation by the state of New York during the Great Depression. Due to the shortage of milk and the shortage of money that people had to buy ordinary items like�milk, the state of New York passed the Milk Control Act of 1933 which fixed a maximum price of a quart of milk for 9 cents. A grocer in Rochester, NY named Leo Nebbia broke the law by selling milk for more than 9 cents�and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.�

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the NY state statue and declared that it was constitutional. The�vote was a close decision of 5-4 in favor of the state of NY. Justice Owen Roberts who wrote the majority opinion stated�that�a state "may regulate a business in any of its aspects, including the prices to be charged for the products or commodities it sells. A state is free to adopt whatever economic policy may reasonably be deemed to promote public welfare and to enforce that policy by legislation adapted to its purpose." This means that�any U.S. state could regulate businesses if it was to benefit the public good especially in a time of an economic crises. ��

Justices McReynolds, Butler, Sutherland, and Van Devanter dissented. Justice McReynolds in his dissenting opinion wrote that the due Process clause of the 14th Amendment allowed justices to sustain legislation they found to be reasonable and strike down unreasonable laws. McReynolds therefore felt that the milk law was unreasonable and should be struck down.

This landmark case during the Great Depression helped out thte American people because it allowed people who didn't have a lot of money to buy the goods they needed to survive.