California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited

E176642

California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited is a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that addressed the limits of First Amendment petitioning rights when parties allegedly use governmental and judicial processes as part of an anticompetitive scheme in violation of antitrust laws.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
antitrust case
allegation conspiracy by incumbent carriers to oppose competitors’ applications before regulatory agencies and courts
areaOfLaw competition law
constitutional law
arguedDate 1971-11-10
citation 404 U.S. 508
concurrenceBy Justice William H. Rehnquist
concurrenceType concurring in the result
constitutionalProvision First Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decidedYear 1972
decisionDate 1972-01-24
docketNumber 70-73
holding Sham petitioning to agencies and courts may fall outside the Noerr-Pennington immunity and be subject to antitrust laws
The First Amendment does not protect from antitrust liability a conspiracy to use administrative and judicial processes to bar competitors from meaningful access to those agencies and courts
issue whether use of administrative and judicial processes as part of an anticompetitive scheme can lose First Amendment petitioning protection
joinedBy Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
linked to: Warren E. Burger

Justice Byron R. White
linked to: Byron R. White

Justice Harry A. Blackmun
linked to: Harry A. Blackmun

Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Justice Potter Stewart
linked to: Potter Stewart

Justice Thurgood Marshall
linked to: Thurgood Marshall

Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
jurisdiction federal question jurisdiction
keyPhrase abuse of governmental processes
meaningful access to the courts
sham litigation
legalSubject First Amendment
Noerr-Pennington doctrine
antitrust law
right to petition the government
opinionBy Justice William O. Douglas
linked to: William O. Douglas
opinionType majority opinion
page 508
petitioner California Motor Transport Company
proceduralPosture appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
rearguedDate 1971-12-06
relatedCase Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc.
United Mine Workers v. Pennington
relatedDoctrine Noerr-Pennington immunity
reporter United States Reports
respondent Trucking Unlimited
result judgment of the court of appeals reversed and remanded
statuteInvolved federal antitrust laws
volume 404

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Referenced by (2)

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Petition Clause citedInCase California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited
Noerr-Pennington doctrine clarifiedInCase California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited