Meyer vs. Nebraska 262 US Rep.

390 (1923)

Plaintiff appealed to the US Supreme Court against the trial court judgment. on appeal plaintiff claimed that the nebraska statute that outlawed the teaching of foreign languages to students that had not yet completed the eight grade infringes the liberty guaranteed by the constitution. Facts: Plaintiff, a teacher in a parochial school, was convicted by the trial court for violating the nebraska statute by teaching german to a ten-year old child. The Nebraska statute imposed restrictions on both the use of a foreign language as a medium of instruction and on foreign languages as a subject of study. It outlawed the teaching of foreign languages to students that had not yet completed the eight grade. The SC of Nebraska affirmed the conviction. On appeal to the US Supreme Court plaintiff further claimed that education was a fundamental liberty interest that must be protected. Plaintiff further claimed that statute infringed the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the fourteenth amendment. The US Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiff and reversed the conviction and held the Nebraska statute violated the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Issue: Whether or not the Nebraska statute infringed the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the fourteenth amendment. Held: Yes. The Nebraska statute as construed and applied unreasonably infringed liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the fourteenth amendment.