Sherman Anti-Trust Act (Constitutional Law)
To: Reader
From:
Re: Sherman Antitrust Act
Facts
John Davison Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ran it until he retired in 1897. Standard Oil gained almost complete control over the oil refining market in the United States by underselling its competitors. Rockefeller and his associates owned dozens of corporations operating in just one state.
The Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted on July 2nd, 1890 which prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace.
Issue Cal Hockley owns numerous steel mills in 1912. Cal believed that if he was taken to court for breaking the Sherman Antitrust Act that his lawyers would simply argue that Cal is not in violation of the act because his steel mills are entirely intrastate activities, so the federal government would have no control over him. However, one of Cal’s colleagues argued that it did not work out that way for Standard Oil. The question is whether Cal is correct and that in 1912 this would be a viable defense or if, even though the mills are entirely intrastate, he would still be subject to the Sherman antitrust act.
Applicable Law In United States v. Patten, 226 U.S. 525 (U.S. 1913), the defendants were charged with violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act by conspiring to run a corner on the cotton market. Ultimately, Patten was attempting to raise the prices of cotton throughout the country. The Supreme Court sustained the charges against the defendant of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In Patten, the Supreme Court found that “although carried on wholly within a State, if the necessary operation of a combination is to directly impede and burden the due course of interstate commerce, it is within the prohibition of the statute.” In United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (U.S. 1911), the United States filed suit against multiple defendants in the tobacco industry for violating the Sherman Antitrust
From:
Re: Sherman Antitrust Act
Facts
John Davison Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ran it until he retired in 1897. Standard Oil gained almost complete control over the oil refining market in the United States by underselling its competitors. Rockefeller and his associates owned dozens of corporations operating in just one state.
The Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted on July 2nd, 1890 which prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace.
Issue Cal Hockley owns numerous steel mills in 1912. Cal believed that if he was taken to court for breaking the Sherman Antitrust Act that his lawyers would simply argue that Cal is not in violation of the act because his steel mills are entirely intrastate activities, so the federal government would have no control over him. However, one of Cal’s colleagues argued that it did not work out that way for Standard Oil. The question is whether Cal is correct and that in 1912 this would be a viable defense or if, even though the mills are entirely intrastate, he would still be subject to the Sherman antitrust act.
Applicable Law In United States v. Patten, 226 U.S. 525 (U.S. 1913), the defendants were charged with violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act by conspiring to run a corner on the cotton market. Ultimately, Patten was attempting to raise the prices of cotton throughout the country. The Supreme Court sustained the charges against the defendant of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In Patten, the Supreme Court found that “although carried on wholly within a State, if the necessary operation of a combination is to directly impede and burden the due course of interstate commerce, it is within the prohibition of the statute.” In United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (U.S. 1911), the United States filed suit against multiple defendants in the tobacco industry for violating the Sherman Antitrust