Allgeyer v. Louisiana

In Allgeyer v. Louisiana, 165 U.S. 578 (1897), the Supreme Court said that such liberty 'means not only the right of the citizen to be free from the mere physical restraint of his person, as by incarceration, but the term is deemed to embrace the right of the citizen to be free in the enjoyment of all his faculties; to be free to use them in all lawful ways; to live and work when he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any livelihood or avocation, and for that purpose to enter into all contracts which may be proper, necessary, and essential to his carrying out to a successful conclusion the purposes above mentioned.' All these rights, as the Supreme Court adjudged in the Allgeyer Case, are embraced in the liberty which the 14th Amendment protects against hostile state action, when such state action is wanting in due process of law.