Why did the supreme court strike down the natuonal industrial recovery?

Answer 1

Title I of the NRA was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 27, 1935 in a sweeping and unanimous ruling after hearing the A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States case, in which the Schechter Corp. allegedly disobeyed the requirements of a "Code of Fair Competition for the Live Poultry Industry of the Metropolitan Area in and about the City of New York." In that Roosevelt-approved code, the company had failed to observe provisions fixing minimum wages and maximum hours for employees, permitted customers to select individual chickens, sold unfit chicken, were not in compliance with inspection regulations, had dealings with slaughterers and dealers not licensed under the code, and made false reports. The Supreme Court found that the provisions in the code were not a valid exercise of federal power. The court argued that Congress had given too much control to the presidency to issue whatever edicts it chose. The act also gave Congress excessive power to regulate interstate commerce and "invades the power reserved exclusively to the States." The court ruled that Congress did not have the right to dictate to the states wages and hours worked, because those factors affect costs and prices and therefore indirectly affect interstate commerce, "nor in the fact that failure of some States to regulate wages and hours diverts commerce from the States that do regulate them." The court also argued that there were no standards set for any trade, industry, or activity and therefore could not prescribe "rules of conduct" to be used when drafting these codes. By the time Title I was overturned, more than 700 industries had been codified, four million unemployed people had been absorbed into industrial jobs, and nearly 23 million workers were under codes. It was largely felt that by the time it was overturned, Title I had run its course and was no longer needed.