Joseph Lochner, a bakery owner in Utica, NY, was fined twice for overworking his employees in violation of the New York Bakeshop Act of 1895. He appealed his convictions unsuccessfully through the New York state courts. He then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Bakeshop Act violated his 14th Amendment right to enter into employment contracts freely. The Supreme Court agreed in a 5-4 decision, finding that the Act was not a valid exercise of the state's police powers and unreasonably interfered with the freedom to contract.