United States v. Darby

E10750

Commerce Clause case U.S. Supreme Court case landmark Supreme Court case

United States v. Darby is a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld federal labor regulations under the Commerce Clause and marked a broad expansion of federal power over economic activity.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
United States v. Darby Lumber Co.	7
United States v. Darby canonical	4
United States v. Darby Lumber Co. (as part of Court majority)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T61044 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: United States v. Darby
Context triple: [Necessary and Proper Clause, majorCase, United States v. Darby]

A. United States v. Comstock
United States v. Comstock is a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s authority to civilly commit mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond their release date under the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause.
B. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
C. Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States is an 1879 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the distinction between protected religious belief and regulable religiously motivated conduct, holding that the Free Exercise Clause does not excuse individuals from compliance with otherwise valid criminal laws such as those banning polygamy.
D. NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. is a landmark 1937 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld federal power to regulate labor relations, marking a major expansion of Congress’s authority over interstate commerce.
E. Wickard v. Filburn
Wickard v. Filburn is a landmark 1942 U.S. Supreme Court case that dramatically expanded federal regulatory power by holding that even purely local, non-commercial activity could be regulated under the Commerce Clause if it had a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: United States v. Darby
Target entity description: United States v. Darby is a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld federal labor regulations under the Commerce Clause and marked a broad expansion of federal power over economic activity.

A. United States v. Comstock
United States v. Comstock is a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s authority to civilly commit mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond their release date under the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause.
B. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
C. Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States is an 1879 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the distinction between protected religious belief and regulable religiously motivated conduct, holding that the Free Exercise Clause does not excuse individuals from compliance with otherwise valid criminal laws such as those banning polygamy.
D. NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. is a landmark 1937 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld federal power to regulate labor relations, marking a major expansion of Congress’s authority over interstate commerce.
E. Wickard v. Filburn
Wickard v. Filburn is a landmark 1942 U.S. Supreme Court case that dramatically expanded federal regulatory power by holding that even purely local, non-commercial activity could be regulated under the Commerce Clause if it had a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Commerce Clause case ⓘ U.S. Supreme Court case ⓘ landmark Supreme Court case ⓘ
appliesTo	employers engaged in production of goods for interstate commerce ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ federalism ⓘ labor law ⓘ
arguedDate	1940-12-19 ⓘ
chiefJusticeAtTime	Charles Evans Hughes ⓘ
citation	312 U.S. 100 ⓘ
clarified	relationship between Commerce Clause power and the Tenth Amendment ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decadeDecided	1940s ⓘ
decisionDate	1941-02-03 ⓘ
decisionType	constitutional interpretation ⓘ
fullName	United States v. Darby Lumber Co. ⓘ linked to: United States v. Darby
holding	Congress may prohibit the shipment in interstate commerce of goods produced under substandard labor conditions ⓘ Congress may regulate the employment of workers engaged in the production of goods for interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause ⓘ The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is a constitutional exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause ⓘ linked to: Fair Labor Standards Act
jurisdiction	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
legalIssue	constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ⓘ federalism and division of powers between federal and state governments ⓘ scope of the Commerce Clause ⓘ
locationOfOriginatingDispute	Georgia ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Harlan F. Stone ⓘ linked to: Justice Harlan F. Stone
overruledCase	Hammer v. Dagenhart ⓘ
party	Darby Lumber Company ⓘ United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
precedentFor	broad congressional authority to regulate labor conditions affecting interstate commerce ⓘ
relatedConstitutionalProvision	Commerce Clause ⓘ Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
relatedDoctrine	substantial effects doctrine ⓘ
relatedTo	New Deal era constitutional jurisprudence ⓘ
reporter	United States Reports ⓘ
shortDescription	1941 Supreme Court decision upholding federal labor standards under the Commerce Clause ⓘ
significance	expanded federal power over economic activity under the Commerce Clause ⓘ limited the restrictive interpretation of the Tenth Amendment as a barrier to federal regulation ⓘ marked a shift toward broad deference to Congress in regulating the national economy ⓘ
topic	federal regulation of wages and hours ⓘ interstate commerce ⓘ maximum hours ⓘ minimum wage ⓘ
upheldStatute	Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ⓘ linked to: Fair Labor Standards Act
volume	312 ⓘ
vote	unanimous ⓘ
yearDecided	1941 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Necessary and Proper Clause → majorCase → United States v. Darby ⓘ

Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution → keyCase → United States v. Darby ⓘ

United States v. Darby → fullName → United States v. Darby Lumber Co. ⓘ