31-759: Meyer v. Nebraska , 262 U.S. 390 (1923), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that held that the "Siman Act", a 1919 Nebraska law prohibiting minority languages as both the subject and medium of instruction in schools, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . The Court's ruling is one of the earliest articulations of substantive due process . The Siman Act had been passed after World War I as part of
62-578: A Department of Education at the federal level was introduced in October 1918, designed to restrict federal funds to states that enforced English-only education. An internal battle over conducting services and religious instruction in German divided the Lutheran churches. On April 9, 1919, Nebraska enacted a statute called "An act relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the state of Nebraska", commonly known as
93-465: A household in the county was $ 40,277, and the median income for a family was $ 45,659. Males had a median income of $ 29,238 versus $ 20,308 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 17,590. About 5.90% of families and 7.50% of the population were below the poverty line , including 9.80% of those under age 18 and 5.40% of those age 65 or over. Hamilton County voters have long been reliably Republican. In only one national election since 1916 has
124-524: A jury trial in criminal cases), the concept of "liberty thus guaranteed" is broader and includes certain spheres of life in which the government cannot intrude even if properly applies such procedures. Writing for the majority, Justice McReynolds stated that while it was not necessary "to define with exactness" the liberties that were protected by the Due Process Clause, its protections "[w]ithout doubt" not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also
155-610: A referendum seven months before Meyer , and similar measures. The Court unanimously struck down the Oregon law in Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), which was based largely upon Meyer. Pierce even more forcefully emphasized parental rights: "The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." Two years later,
186-456: Is found in the companion case of Bartels v. State of Iowa . Holmes wrote that he differed with the majority "with hesitation and unwillingness" because he thought the law did not impose an undue restriction on the liberty of the teacher since it was not arbitrary, was limited in its application to the teaching of children, and the State had areas where many children might hear only a language other than English spoken at home. "I think I appreciate
217-551: The English only movement and during a time of pervasive anti-German sentiment , atrocity propaganda , and spy scare paranoia promoted by U.S. news media . Nebraska was one of 22 states that had enacted laws banning or restricting foreign language instruction based on broader nativist sentiments to promote assimilation into American culture and society. The Supreme Court, while recognizing that states have significant power to "make reasonable regulations for all schools", invalidated
248-518: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 547 square miles (1,420 km ), of which 543 square miles (1,410 km ) is land and 4.1 square miles (11 km ) (0.8%) is water. As of the 2000 United States Census , there were 9,403 people, 3,503 households, and 2,676 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile (6.6 people/km ). There were 3,850 housing units at an average density of 7 units per square mile (2.7/km ). The racial makeup of
279-405: The U.S. Supreme Court engaged in substantive due process in the area of civil liberties . Laurence Tribe has called them "the two sturdiest pillars of the substantive due process temple". He noted that the decisions in these cases did not describe specific acts as constitutionally protected but a broader area of liberty: "[they] described what they were protecting from the standardizing hand of
310-507: The Constitution ;– a desirable end cannot be promoted by prohibited means." He allowed that wartime circumstances might justify a different understanding, but that Nebraska had not demonstrated sufficient need "in time of peace and domestic tranquility" to justify "the consequent infringement of rights long freely enjoyed". Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and George Sutherland dissented. Their dissenting opinion, written by Holmes,
341-557: The Court reaffirmed the holdings of Meyer and Pierce in Farrington v. Tokushige (1927), which invalidated a Hawaiian statute restricting the teaching of Asian languages. The Court rejected the Hawaiian territory's attempt to distinguish Meyer on the basis that Asian languages were more pernicious than German. Meyer , along with Pierce, is often cited as one of the first instances in which
SECTION 10
#1732856127157372-602: The Siman Act as an excessive "interference" of liberties granted by the Fourteenth Amendment, such as the right of a teacher to instruct students and the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children. The Court also noted that such rights extend broadly to all Americans, including those who speak foreign languages. Meyer has been described by legal scholars as "the case that defined personal liberties" and "America's First Privacy Case", since it greatly expanded
403-590: The Siman Act. It imposed restrictions on both the use of a foreign language as a medium of instruction and on foreign languages as a subject of study. With respect to the use of a foreign language while teaching, it provided that "No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language other than the English language." With respect to foreign-language education, it prohibited instruction of children who had yet to successfully complete
434-459: The Supreme Court chooses not to review the case. Although many cases from state supreme courts are significant in developing the law of that state, only a few are so revolutionary that they announce standards that many other state courts then choose to follow. Hamilton County, Nebraska Hamilton County is a county in the U.S. state Nebraska . As of the 2020 United States Census ,
465-654: The United States The following landmark court decisions in the United States contains landmark court decisions which changed the interpretation of existing law in the United States . Such a decision may settle the law in more than one way: In the United States, landmark court decisions come most frequently from the Supreme Court . United States courts of appeals may also make such decisions, particularly if
496-561: The county was 98.43% White , 0.18% Black or African American , 0.12% Native American , 0.22% Asian , 0.49% from other races , and 0.56% from two or more races. 1.14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,503 households, out of which 37.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.40% were married couples living together, 5.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.60% were non-families. 21.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.10% had someone living alone who
527-460: The county when the license plate system was established in 1922). The first permanent settlers arrived in Hamilton County in 1866. Hamilton County was created in 1867, and was organized in 1870. It was named for Alexander Hamilton . The Platte River flows northeastward along the northwest side of Hamilton County, forming the northwestern boundary line with Merrick County. According to
558-620: The eighth grade. On May 25, 1920, Robert T. Meyer, while an instructor in Zion Lutheran School, a one-room schoolhouse in Hampton, Nebraska , taught the subject of reading in the German language to 10-year-old Raymond Parpart, a fourth grader. The Hamilton County Attorney entered the classroom and discovered Parpart reading from the Bible in German. He charged Meyer with violating the Siman Act. Meyer
589-594: The law to "hatred, national bigotry and racial prejudice engendered by the World War". Opposing counsel countered that "it is the ambition of the State to have its entire population 100 percent American". The Supreme Court reversed seven to two, reasoning that although the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause ostensibly mandates only that the government follow certain procedures before depriving individuals of life, liberty or property (such as
620-556: The objection to the law, but it appears to me to present a question upon which men reasonably might differ and therefore I am unable to say the Constitution of the United States prevents the experiment being tried." The most immediate significance of Meyer was in derailing the powerful nationwide movement, motivated largely by anti-Catholicism, to destroy parochial education by requiring all children to attend public schools. Oregon voters approved one such compulsory public education law in
651-507: The performance of German music at symphony concerts and the meetings of German American civic associations. Language was a principal focus of legislation at the state and local level. It took many forms, from requiring associations to have charters written in English to a ban on the use of German within the town limits. Some states banned foreign language instruction, while a few banned only German. Some extended their bans into private instruction and even to religious education. A bill to create
SECTION 20
#1732856127157682-572: The population was 9,429. Its county seat is Aurora . The county was named for Alexander Hamilton , the first Secretary of the Treasury in the new United States government. Hamilton County is included in the Grand Island , NE Metropolitan Statistical Area . In the Nebraska license plate system , Hamilton County is represented by the prefix 28 (it had the 28th-largest number of vehicles registered in
713-439: The quality of its citizens, physically, mentally and morally, is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected. The protection of the Constitution extends to all, to those who speak other languages as well as to those born with English on the tongue. Perhaps it would be highly advantageous if all had ready understanding of our ordinary speech, but this cannot be coerced by methods which conflict with
744-507: The right of parents to engage him so to instruct their children, we think, are within the liberty of the amendment." And further: "Evidently the Legislature has attempted materially to interfere with the calling of modern language teachers, with the opportunities of pupils to acquire knowledge, and with the power of parents to control the education of their own." And finally: "That the state may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to improve
775-412: The right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men". Analyzing in that context the liberty of
806-562: The scope of constitutionally protected liberties to include both enumerated and unenumerated " fundamental rights " such as the right "to contract , to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, [and] to marry, establish a home and bring up children...". This subsequently developed into the legal principle of substantive due process that would underpin decisions related to same-sex marriage, racial discrimination, and reproductive rights. World War I witnessed an extensive campaign against all things German, such as
837-739: The state in language that spoke of the family as a center of value-formation and value-transmission ... the authority of parents to make basic choices" and not just controlling the subjects one's child is taught. The doctrine of substantive due process provided the basis for future civil rights decisions of the Court, including Roe v. Wade , Planned Parenthood v. Casey , and Lawrence v. Texas . Justice Kennedy speculated in 2000 that both of those cases might have been written differently nowadays: " Pierce and Meyer , had they been decided in recent times, may well have been grounded upon First Amendment principles protecting freedom of speech, belief, and religion." List of landmark court decisions in
868-575: The teacher and of parents with respect to their children, McReynolds wrote: "Practically, education of the young is only possible in schools conducted by especially qualified persons who devote themselves thereto. The calling always has been regarded as useful and honorable, essential, indeed, to the public welfare. Mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful. Heretofore it has been commonly looked upon as helpful and desirable. Plaintiff in error taught this language in school as part of his occupation. His right thus to teach and
899-484: The work of " crowd psychology ". Meyer appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. His lead attorney was Arthur Mullen, an Irish-Catholic and a prominent Democrat who had earlier failed in his attempt to obtain an injunction against enforcement of the Siman Act from the Nebraska State Supreme Court. Oral arguments expressed conflicting interpretations of the World War I experience. Mullen attributed
930-438: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.07. The county population contained 29.10% under the age of 18, 5.90% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.10 males. The median income for
961-406: Was tried and convicted in the district court for Hamilton County and fined $ 25 (about $ 380 in 2023 dollars). The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed his conviction by a vote of 4 to 2. The majority thought the law a proper response to "the baneful effects" of allowing immigrants to educate their children in their mother tongue, with results "inimical to our own safety". The dissent called the Siman Act