United States v. Darby

Supreme Court of the United States · 1941 · Constitutional Law

312 U.S. 100 (1941)

Updated July 29, 2026

Constitutional LawCommerce ClauseTenth AmendmentFifth AmendmentFair Labor Standards Actsubstantial effectsminimum wagemaximum hours

Facts

Darby was engaged in Georgia in acquiring raw materials and manufacturing them into finished lumber, intending when manufactured to ship much of that lumber to customers outside the state, and he did in fact ship a large part interstate. The indictment charged him with shipping interstate lumber produced by employees paid less than the statutory minimum wage or worked more than the statutory maximum hours without overtime pay. Other counts charged him with employing workers in producing lumber for interstate commerce under those unlawful wage and hour conditions. A further count charged him with failing to keep records of employees' hours as required by the Act and administrator's regulations.

Issue

Does Congress have power under the Commerce Clause to prohibit interstate shipment of goods produced under substandard wage and hour conditions, to prohibit employment of workers in producing goods for interstate commerce except on prescribed wage and hour terms, and to require employers to keep records needed to enforce those requirements? Do the Fifth or Tenth Amendments bar those provisions?

Rule

The commerce power is plenary within its sphere and includes the power to prohibit interstate shipment of goods. Congress may also regulate intrastate activities when they so affect interstate commerce or the exercise of congressional power over it as to make regulation an appropriate means to a legitimate end. In exercising a granted power, Congress may choose means reasonably adapted to that end, and the Tenth Amendment does not restrict such otherwise valid legislation.

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

Blue Mesa Textiles operates a mill in Macon, Georgia. It ships finished towels to retailers in Alabama and Florida, but some employees who made those towels were paid below a federal minimum wage set by Congress for goods produced for interstate commerce.

If Blue Mesa is prosecuted for shipping those towels across state lines, what is the strongest basis for upholding the federal law?

Explanation. The majority held that shipment across state lines is interstate commerce, and Congress’s commerce power includes prohibition as well as facilitation. The fact that Congress’s purpose is to prevent use of interstate commerce as a channel for unfair competition from substandard labor conditions does not invalidate the law. The Court rejected any requirement that the goods be harmful in themselves, rejected dependence on matching state policy, and emphasized that manufacture is not itself interstate commerce.