[2]

Jurisprudence
Further information: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court
Commerce Clause
The Supreme Court under Taft compiled a conservative record in Commerce Clause jurisprudence. This had the practical effect of making it difficult for the federal government to regulate industry, and the Taft Court also scuttled many state laws. The few liberals on the court—Brandeis, Holmes, and (from 1925) Harlan Fiske Stone—sometimes protested, believing orderly progress essential, but often joined in the majority opinion.[189]
The White Court had, in 1918, struck down an attempt by Congress to regulate child labor in Hammer v. Dagenhart.[t][190] Congress thereafter attempted to end child labor by imposing a tax on certain corporations making use of it. That law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1922 in Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co., with Taft writing the court's opinion for an 8–1 majority.[u] He held that the tax was not intended to raise revenue, but rather was an attempt to regulate matters reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment,[191] and that allowing such taxation would eliminate the power of the states.