Child Labor Amendment Coalition
Who We Are
We are a group of students dedicated to the passage of the Child Labor Amendment. This amendment will protect children from dangerous and unhealthy labor and working conditions
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, a state that rejected the Child Labor Amendment when it was brought to the legislature in 1927. We plan on changing that both in Maryland and other states.
Guarantee Federal Oversight of Child Labor
Since the first half of the 20th century child labor has been regulated by the federal government to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and education of children who choose to work.
This federal oversight is now threatened by a reactionary Supreme Court and increasingly anti-regulatory states that are relaxing important safety laws regarding child labor.
This amendment, when ratified by the sufficient number of states, will guarantee federal oversight of all those under 18 who work and allow them to work in safe conditions and for reasonable hours and compensation.
Why This Is At Risk
“From the time of the ratification of the Constitution to the mid-1930’s, it was widely understood that the Constitution granted Congress only limited powers, notwithstanding the Commerce Clause. Moreover, there was no question that activities wholly separated from business, such as gun possession [and manufacturing], were beyond the reach of the commerce power. If anything, the “wrong turn” was the Court’s dramatic departure in the 1930’s from a century and a half of precedent.”
Justice Thomas’ Concurring Opinion in Sackett v. Epa*
(5/25/2023)
*Joined by Justice Gorsuch
“The making of goods and the mining of coal are not commerce, nor does the fact that these things are to be afterwards shipped or used in interstate commerce make their production a part thereof.
Justice Day’s majority opinion in Hammer v. Dagenhart* (6/3/1918)
Over interstate transportation or its incidents, the regulatory power of Congress is ample, but the production of articles intended for interstate commerce is a matter of local regulation.
If it were otherwise, all manufacture intended for interstate shipment would be brought under federal control to the practical exclusion of the authority of the States, a result certainly not contemplated by the framers of the Constitution when they vested in Congress the authority to regulate commerce among the States.”
*Joined by Chief Justice White, Justice Van Devanter, Justice Pitney, & Justice McReynolds
“The [Commerce] Clause’s text, structure, and history all indicate that, at the time of the founding, the term ‘commerce’ consisted of selling, buying, and bartering, as well as transporting for these purposes.” This meaning “stood in contrast to productive activities like manufacturing and agriculture.”
Justice Thomas’ Concurring opinion in United states v. Lopez
(4/26/1995)
These Supreme Court rulings signify the court’s turn towards strict constructionism that would pose a grave danger to the federal government’s regulatory ability across many levels including labor regulation.
The Commerce Clause is an extremely important part of the Constitution, it gives Congress the ability to “[t]o regulate Commerce” amongst several entities, most importantly “among the several States.” The clause allows for Congress to regulate interstate commerce, and therein stems the problem: what is commerce and what qualifies as interstate? There have been more than 2,000 cases involving this brought before the Supreme Court. It’s interpretation has changed over time, from a restriction on states’ abilities to interfere with other states to an power of Congress to regulate the states. Recently as the Supreme Court has shifted to the right it has become increasingly originalist, a form of judicial interpretation that interprets the Constitution as it is believed the founders wrote it. This is an interpretation that is fundamentally flawed; the United States has changed immensely since its founding and those changes must be accounted for.
Justice Day’s majority opinion in Hammer v. Dagenhart, a pivotal case that struck down early child labor laws, bears resemblance to Justice Thomas’ opinions in more recent cases regarding the federal government’s reach and purview.
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(Child) Labor Day
On Labor Day, a day rooted in the celebration American workers, we must not forget about the plight of many oft-forgotten workers: children. Data from the Department of Labor shows a staggering rise in child labor violations over the past decade, an increase of more than 425% from 2013-2023! At the same time that companies…
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