100 Years of Unenumerated Freedoms: Meyer v. Nebraska at a Century

On May 25, 1920, Robert T. Meyer was reading to his elementary students when the county attorney entered his classroom. A teacher at a private school in Hampton, Nebraska, run by the local Zion Lutheran Church, Meyer was giving a German-language lesson. He knew a state law, enacted during the xenophobic hysteria at the end of the Great War, banned foreign language instruction. Even so, he continued speaking German. He was later indicted, found guilty, and fined. Meyer appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court. And on June 4, 1923, it ruled in his favor, issuing one of the most sweeping defenses of individual freedom in history.

On March 31, 2023 the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice brought together a number of scholars to celebrate the centenary of this monumental moment for liberty and the foundation for so much in the years that followed. We began with our keynote speaker and the foremost historian of the decision, Professor William G. Ross of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He detailed the case’s background and drama, including the characters involved, what led the Court to rule as it did, and its immediate aftermath. Then we welcomed four different panels of experts to discuss the various ways the decision has shaped numerous areas of constitutional law, including the right to earn a living, the right to raise a family, the First Amendment’s protections of speech and religion, and the incorporation of the Bill of Rights against the states. Our last panel then considered the continuing influence of Meyer on unenumerated rights as we look to the future.

Those who gave presentations on the panels were David E. Bernstein, George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School; Kermit Roosevelt, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; Susan Lawrence, Rutgers University; David M. Wagner, Free Families Foundation; Michael Bindas, Institute for Justice; James Y. Stern, Williams & Mary Law School; Robert McNamara, Institute for Justice; Angela Carmella, Seton Hall University School of Law; Elizabeth Wydra, Constitutional Accountability Center; Julia D. Mahoney, University of Virginia School of Law; and Anthony Sanders, Institute for Justice. Renée Flaherty and Dana Berliner, Institute for Justice, and Alexa Gervasi, served as moderators.

VIDEOS FROM THE EVENT

Introduction and Keynote Address

William G. Ross of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law (keynote); Scott Bullock and Anthony Sanders, Institute for Justice (introduction).

Meyer and the Right to Earn a Living

Panel with David E. Bernstein, George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School; Kermit Roosevelt, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; and Renée Flaherty, Institute for Justice (moderator).

Meyer and the Family

Panel with Susan Lawrence, Rutgers University; David M. Wagner, Free Families Foundation; Michael Bindas, Institute for Justice; and Robert McNamara, Institute for Justice (moderator)

Meyer, the First Amendment, and Incorporation

Panel with James Y. Stern, Williams & Mary Law School; Robert McNamara, Institute for Justice; Angela Carmella, Seton Hall University School of Law; and Dana Berliner, Institute for Justice (moderator).

The Future of Unenumerated Rights

Panel with Elizabeth Wydra, Constitutional Accountability Center; Julia D. Mahoney, University of Virginia School of Law; Anthony Sanders, Institute for Justice; Alexa Gervasi, Georgetown Center for the Constitution (moderator).

Special Guests

Scott Bullock
President, Institute for Justice
William G. Ross
Albert P. Brewer Professor of Law and Ethics, Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law
David E. Bernstein
University Professor & Executive Director of the Liberty & Law Center, George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School
Renée Flaherty
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Michael Bindas
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Susan Lawrence
Associate Professor & Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
David M. Wagner
Founder and President, Free Families Foundation
Julie Silverbrook
Senior Director of Partnerships & Constitutional Scholar in Residence, iCivics
Angela Carmella
Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law
Dale Carpenter
Judge William Hawley Atwell Chair of Constitutional Law, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law
James Y. Stern
Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School
Dana Berliner
Senior Vice President & Litigation Director, Institute for Justice
Julia D. Mahoney
John S. Battle Professor of Law & Joseph C. Carter, Jr. Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Anthony Sanders
Director of the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice
Elizabeth B. Wydra
President, Constitutional Accountability Center
Alexa Gervasi
Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution
Kermit Roosevelt
David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School