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WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. PENNSYLVANIA (1888)

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Seal of the Supreme Court of the United States
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. PENNSYLVANIA
Term: 1888
Important Dates
Decided: October 22, 1888
Outcome
Reversed and remanded
Vote
8-0
Majority
Samuel BlatchfordJoseph BradleyStephen Johnson FieldMelville Weston FullerHorace GrayJohn Marshall HarlanLucius Quintus Cincinnatus LamarSamuel Freeman Miller

WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. PENNSYLVANIA is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on October 22, 1888.

In an 8-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the Court's opinion.

For a full list of cases decided in the 1880s, click here. For a full list of cases decided by the Fuller Court, click here.

[1]

About the case

  • Subject matter: Economic Activity - State or local government regulation, especially of business (cf. federal pre-emption of state court jurisdiction, federal pre-emption of state legislation or regulation)
  • Petitioner: Telephone, telecommunications, or telegraph company
  • Petitioner state: Unknown
  • Respondent type: State
  • Respondent state: Pennsylvania
  • Citation: 128 U.S. 39
  • How the court took jurisdiction: Writ of error
  • What type of decision was made: Opinion of the court (orally argued)
  • Who was the chief justice: Melville Weston Fuller
  • Who wrote the majority opinion: Melville Weston Fuller

These data points were accessed from The Supreme Court Database, which also attempts to categorize the ideological direction of the court's ruling in each case. This case's ruling was categorized as conservative.

See also

External links

Footnotes