United States v. Borden Company et al. (347 U.S. 514)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 17, 1954 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 347 U.S. 514 · 74 S. Ct. 703
- Docket
- No. 464
- Argued
- April 27, 1954
- Decided
- May 17, 1954
- Term
- October Term 1953
- Vote
- 7–0
- Majority author
- Justice Clark
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Warren, Justice Clark (wrote), Justice Frankfurter, Justice Burton, Justice Reed, Justice Minton, Justice R. H. Jackson
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Clark delivered the opinion of the Court. The United States instituted this civil proceeding against ten Chicago dairies, charging conspiracy to restrain and monopolize the sale of fluid milk to wholesale customers and others in the Chicago area, in violation of the Sherman Act, and price discrimination in violation of the Clayton Act. Prior to trial a consent decree was entered against five of the smaller defendant companies, enjoining continuation of the conduct charged in the complaint. At the close of the Government’s case against the remaining five defendants, the District Court dismissed the complaint in its entirety. It held that, as to the alleged violations of §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, the evidence failed to establish the existence of a conspiracy or combination; and that, though there was proof of price discrimination violative of § 2 (a) of the Clayton Act by four of the defendants, a prior decree in a private antitrust action brought by a competitor dairy company enjoined the conduct in question and made it “useless” to award the Government an injunction. Ill F. Supp. 562. The Government then appealed directly to this Court under 15 U. S. C. § 29, and we noted probable jurisdiction, 346 U. S. 914. Three of the four questions presented on this appeal deal with rulings by the district judge that certain evidence was inadmissible. The Government does…
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