Town of Hallie et al. v. City of Eau Claire (471 U.S. 34)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 27, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 471 U.S. 34 · 105 S. Ct. 1713
- Decided
- March 27, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Powell
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents the question whether a municipality’s anticompetitive activities are protected by the state action exemption to the federal antitrust laws established by Parker v. Brown, 317 U. S. 341 (1943), when the activities are authorized, but not compelled, by the State, and the State does not actively supervise the anticompetitive conduct. I. Petitioners — Town of Hallie, Town of Seymour, Town of Union, and Town of Washington (the Towns) — are four Wisconsin unincorporated townships located adjacent to respondent, the City of Eau Claire (the City). Town of Hallie is located in Chippewa County, and the other three towns are located in Eau Claire County. The Towns filed suit against the City in United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin seeking injunctive relief and alleging that the City violated the Sherman Act, 15 U. S. C. § 1 et seq., by acquiring a monopoly over the provision of sewage treatment services in Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties, and by tying the provision of such services to the provision of sewage collection and transportation services. Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U. S. C. §1251 et seq., the City had obtained federal funds to help build a sewage treatment facility within the Eau Claire Service Area, that included the Towns; the facility is the only one in…
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