Meyer v. Nebraska

Supreme Court of the United States · 1923 · Family Law

262 U.S. 390 (1923)

Updated August 1, 2026

Family Lawparental rightssubstantive due processFourteenth Amendmentlibertyeducationpolice powerforeign language instruction

Facts

Meyer was an instructor at Zion Parochial School and was convicted for teaching reading in the German language to a ten-year-old child who had not passed the eighth grade. The prosecution was based on a Nebraska statute that prohibited teaching any subject in any language other than English and allowed non-English languages to be taught only after a pupil had successfully passed the eighth grade. The Nebraska Supreme Court treated the conduct as the intentional teaching of German as a distinct subject in a parochial school and upheld the law as a valid exercise of the state's police power. Meyer challenged the statute as violating the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Issue

Whether Nebraska's statute, as construed and applied to prohibit Meyer from teaching German to a child who had not passed the eighth grade, unreasonably infringed the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. More specifically, the question was whether the law was a valid exercise of the police power or an arbitrary interference with protected liberty.

Rule

Liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment includes more than freedom from bodily restraint; it includes the rights to engage in common occupations, acquire useful knowledge, and establish a home and bring up children. The state may regulate under its police power, but such regulation is unconstitutional if it is arbitrary or without reasonable relation to a purpose within the state's competency, and legislative judgment on that point is subject to judicial review.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Omaha, Nebraska, the legislature makes it a misdemeanor for any private or public school teacher to offer Spanish classes to children who have not completed sixth grade. Elena Ortiz, a private tutor hired by several families, is fined after teaching introductory Spanish reading to nine-year-olds after regular school hours.

If Elena challenges the law under the Fourteenth Amendment as described in the majority opinion, which argument is strongest?

Explanation. The majority described liberty broadly to include engaging in common occupations, acquiring useful knowledge, and bringing up children. It specifically treated the teacher's right to teach and the parents' right to engage the teacher as protected liberty interests. A ban on early modern-language instruction materially interferes with those interests and is invalid if arbitrary or lacking a reasonable relation to a legitimate state end.