Montana Labor News

Nullifying Courts

How the courts interfere with the will of the people by declaring null and void the legislative action of a democratic body directly responsible to the people was again demonstrated last week when the Kentucky court of appeals set aside the ratification of the child labor amendment.

The Kentucky legislature, by an overwhelming majority, ratified the amendment to the federal constitution to outlaw child labor. In 1926 and again in 1934 the general assembly rejected the amendment, but under the leadership of President Roosevelt, who has consistently opposed child labor and urged a constitutional amendment to prohibit the exploitation of child workers, the assembly reversed previous actions and voted ratification. Immediately the industrialists of that tobacco processing state challenged the action of the legislature.

The court of appeals ruled that once a general assembly has rejected a proposed amendment to the federal constitution it cannot reconsider it unless Congress resubmits the proposal. The court also held that an unreasonable lapse of time has occurred since the first submission of the amendment in 1924.

It is a strange fact that the court of appeals of Kentucky is the only high court in the land which has made a similar ruling. Some of the most outstanding constitutional authorities have held that the lapse of time is not an element, and on that basis all but six states in the union have ratified the amendment.

Simmered down, the decision of the Kentucky court is just another example of how courts have usurped authority to undo the work of legislative bodies and to set aside the will of the people. It is just another testimonial to the justice of President Roosevelt's demand for judicial reformation.