SCHECHTER POULTRY CORP. v. UNITED STATES

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Case Basics
Docket No. 
854
Petitioner 
Schechter Poultry Corp.
Respondent 
United States
Decided By 
Hughes Court (1932-1937)
Opinion 
295 U.S. 495 (1935)
Argued 
Thursday, May 2, 1935
Decided 
Monday, May 27, 1935
Term:
Location: Schechter Poultry Slaughterhouse Markets
Facts of the Case 

Section 3 of the National Industrial Recovery Act empowered the President to implement industrial codes to regulate weekly employment hours, wages, and minimum ages of employees. The codes had standing as penal statutes.

Question 

Did Congress unconstitutionally delegate legislative power to the President?

Conclusion 
Decision: 9 votes for Schechter Poultry Corp., 0 vote(s) against
Legal provision: U.S. Const. Art I; U.S. Const. Amend. 10; 15 U.S.C. § 703 (1933) (National Industrial Recovery Act § 3)

The Court held that Section 3 was "without precedent" and violated the Constitution. The law did not establish rules or standards to evaluate industrial activity. In other words, it did not make codes, but simply empowered the President to do so. A unanimous Court found this to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

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SCHECHTER POULTRY CORP. v. UNITED STATES. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 26 May 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1934/1934_854>.
SCHECHTER POULTRY CORP. v. UNITED STATES, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1934/1934_854 (last visited May 26, 2013).
"SCHECHTER POULTRY CORP. v. UNITED STATES," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed May 26, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1934/1934_854.