1920's Education | Meyer v. Nebraska

Supreme Court decision

By: James Clark McReynolds

Date: June 4, 1923

Source: Meyer v. Nebraska. 262 U.S. 390 (1923).

About the Author: Justice James Clark McReynolds (1862–1946) was born in Elkton, Kentucky. He studied law at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in 1884, and served as a professor of law at Vanderbilt University. In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt (served 1901–1909) appointed McReynolds Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division in the Department of Justice. He later became Attorney General, and was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson (served 1913–1921) to the Supreme Court in 1914. He served as a Supreme Court justice for twenty-six years until his retirement in 1941.

Introduction

In 1920, a Nebraska private school teacher was convicted of teaching a ten-year-old child a Bible story in the German language. This...