California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited
1972 United States Supreme Court case
California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U.S. 508 (1972), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court involving the right to make petitions to the government. The right to petition is enshrined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as: "Congress shall make no law...abridging...the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This case involved the claim that one group of companies was using state and federal regulatory actions to eliminate competitors. The Supreme Court ruled that the right to petition is integral to the legal system but using lawful means to achieve unlawful restraint of trade is not protected in some instances.
Antitrust law
Antitrust law is the body of laws that exist in order to prevent companies from suppressing market competition from other companies. The Sherman Antitrust Act was a landmark piece of federal legislation passed in 1890 and "intended to prevent all contracts, combinations, and conspiracies which restrain or monopolize trade." The Clayton Antitrust Act followed in 1914 and allowed parties injured by anti-competitive actions to sue the violators for both injunctive relief (meaning the anti-competitive action had to stop) and treble damages (meaning the actual monetary damages suffered by the injured party would be multiplied by three times when determining the award granted).
In two cases interpreting these laws (Eastern Railroad Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight Inc. and United Mine Workers v.
The public source identifies “California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited” as 1972 United States Supreme Court case. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around California, Motor and Transport.
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