LAD/Blog #28: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act addressed the issue of child labor and its role in trade, commerce, and business in the U.S.. The Act stated that if children are involved in the manufacturing process of a product, then that product will not be sold, traded, or distributed. To go on, a committee which was led by the Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor was made to regulate and enforce the Act. In this act, these “Inspectors” are granted the right to go into factories and make sure that each business is following the rules. The Act states that if any of these rules are broken, leaders can be jailed, fined, and convicted. This Act was also known as Wicks Bill and only lasted a short amount of time due to a court case (Hammer v. Dagenhart) in which it was found to be unconstitutional by giving the federal government too much power in the regulation of interstate commerce.