This is the U.S. Supreme Court case that ended the Lochner era of jurisprudence. It is allegedly the “switch in time that saved nine,” a reference to the Court abruptly changing course shortly after FDR announced his court packing plan. Justice Owen Roberts, in a span of a few months, changed his vote from a similar case and allowed the State of Washington, in this case, to implement a minimum wage law for women. It was another step in the direction of the intrusive, bureaucratic, centrally planned regulatory state that now exists.
The case itself: West Coast Hotel v Parrish (1937)
The Roberts Memo, by Justice Owen Roberts, explaining why his “switch” had nothing to do with the FDR court packing threat.
