Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States

Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

The Schechter brothers were convicted of violating the Live Poultry Code, promulgated under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). The code regulated wages, hours, and trade practices in the New York City poultry market. The Schechters argued that the NIRA unconstitutionally delegated legislative power to the executive and that their business was purely intrastate.

Significance

The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the NIRA on two grounds. First, Congress had unconstitutionally delegated legislative power to the President — the code-making authority lacked any meaningful standards or guidance. Second, Schechter’s poultry business was entirely intrastate; while the chickens came from out of state, the ‘flow of commerce’ had ceased once they arrived at the slaughterhouse. The decision invalidated a centerpiece of the New Deal and forced the Roosevelt administration to pursue different regulatory strategies.

Category

US Federal Case Law