United States v. Employing Lathers Association of Chicago and Vicinity et al. (347 U.S. 198)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 8, 1954 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 347 U.S. 198 · 74 S. Ct. 455
- Docket
- No. 439
- Argued
- February 3, 1954
- Decided
- March 8, 1954
- Term
- October Term 1953
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Warren, Justice Black (wrote), Justice Clark, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Burton, Justice Reed, Justice R. H. Jackson
- Dissenting
- Justice Douglas, Justice Minton (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. This civil action was brought by the Government in a Federal District Court of Illinois against appellees, a trade association of Chicago lathing contractors, two of its member contractors, and a local labor union composed of lathers. The complaint charged a violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act which forbids combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade or commerce among the states. 15 U. S. C. § 1. The District Court dismissed the complaint on the ground that it failed to state a cause of action on which relief could be granted. At the same time and for the same reason it dismissed a similar complaint charging a Chicago plasterers’ association and a local plasterers’ union with violating § 1 of the Sherman Act. Both cases were brought here on direct appeal by the Government under authority of 15 U. S. C. § 29. We have just reversed the District Court’s dismissal of the complaint against the plastering group, United States v. Employing Plasterers Assn. of Chicago, ante, p. 186. Despite some differences in the two complaints, the reasons for reversing the plasterers’ case are equally applicable here. This complaint shows: A substantial quantity of lathing material used on Chicago jobs is produced in states other than Illinois, sold by the producers to Chicago building material dealers, shipped interstate either to the…
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