Question

Which court ruling advanced women's rights, allowing them to make decisions about their own bodies?
A.
Plessy v. Ferguson
B.
Loving v. Virginia
C.
Aderand v. Peña
D.
Roe v. Wade

Answer 1

Answer:

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court upheld an Oregon state law limiting women to working no more than ten hours a day. Three years earlier, in Lochner v. New York, the Court had ruled that a state could not restrict the working hours of men, on the grounds that doing so would infringe on their right as workers to make their own working arrangements with employers. In this case, it held that this right was outweighed by the state's interest in protecting women.

The case featured what is now known as the "Brandeis brief," written to support Oregon's case by future justice Louis Brandeis. It contained 2 pages discussing legal issues, and 110 pages of data providing evidence that long working hours had negative effects on the "health, safety, morals, and general welfare of women." This was the first time such data had been used in a Supreme Court case to demonstrate a reasonable basis for a state law.