WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS (1888)

WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
	Term: 1887
Important Dates
	Argued: February 15, 1888
	Decided: March 19, 1888
Outcome
	Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part
Vote
	8-0
Majority
	Samuel Blatchford • Stephen Johnson Field • Horace Gray • John Marshall Harlan • Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar • Stanley Matthews • Samuel Freeman Miller • Morrison Waite

WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 19, 1888. The case was argued before the court on February 15, 1888.

In an 8-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part the ruling of the lower court. The case originated from the Massachusetts U.S. Circuit for the District of Massachusetts.

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

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About the case

Subject matter: Economic Activity - state or local government tax
Petitioner: Telephone, telecommunications, or telegraph company
Petitioner state: Unknown
Respondent type: Governmental official, or an official of an agency established under an interstate compact
Respondent state: Massachusetts
Citation: 125 U.S. 530
How the court took jurisdiction: Appeal
What type of decision was made: Opinion of the court (orally argued)
Who was the chief justice: Morrison Waite
Who wrote the majority opinion: Samuel Freeman Miller

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 liberal.