A Question Regarding United States Supreme Court Decisions and Standard Oil vs. USA

[catboy637]

I have a question regarding the Supreme Court's decision in Standard Oil vs. the United States.

Would it have been possible after the decision was made and Standard Oil broken up, for the United States government to reinstate Standard Oil as a monopoly?

Furthermore, could the government overturn the Sherman Anti-Trust Act legally? This is directed towards the early Depression era United States.

 

[DD951]

I have a question regarding the Supreme Court's decision in Standard Oil vs. the United States.

Would it have been possible after the decision was made and Standard Oil broken up, for the United States government to reinstate Standard Oil as a monopoly?

Furthermore, could the government overturn the Sherman Anti-Trust Act legally? This is directed towards the early Depression era United States.

Not quite sure what you're getting at with the first question, but as to the second, even though the constitutionality of the law was a settled issue by the Depression, getting rid of it would be as 'simple' as having Congress vote to repeal it if it wanted to (although that would be an incredible can of worms considering how central it is to regulating the economy aside from the political considerations of sponsoring a return to corporate monopolies), or if a formal repeal would be too much, I suppose the top levels of the administration could tell the DOJ not to bother enforcing it either in specific situations (as happened when GM got caught buying streetcar, trolley, and commuter rail lines to put them out of buisness and replace them with buses) or at all, although that could be a big scandal if it leaked, not to mention that it wouldn't bind later presidents.

 

[catboy637]

I thank you for your answer, but two small things.

First, to answer your question, I was asking if Standard Oil could be reunited as a monopoly following its disbanding. Perhaps by having Exxon or Chevron taking over each other.

Second, what are you referring to by saying future presidents wouldn't be binded?

 

[DD951]

I thank you for your answer, but two small things.

First, to answer your question, I was asking if Standard Oil could be reunited as a monopoly following its disbanding. Perhaps by having Exxon or Chevron taking over each other.

Second, what are you referring to by saying future presidents wouldn't be binded?

By future presidents not being bound, if the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is neutralized during a particular administration by a President ordering his DOJ to either selectivly enforce it, or not enforce it, that's a matter of executive policy which the next President can change- kind of like W's DOJ not being that interested in enforcing the Civil Rights Act when it came to voting, a lot of environmental regulations, or banking laws, which are being changed, for example, not to hijack this thread into a political discussion.

 

[catboy637]

Ah, now I understand. The fact that it can change by Executive head and elections is interesting.

In your opinion, could the Anti-Trust Act issue become a political one within the future of this hypothetical scenario, such as abortion or DADT?

 

[David S Poepoe]

I have a question regarding the Supreme Court's decision in Standard Oil vs. the United States.

Would it have been possible after the decision was made and Standard Oil broken up, for the United States government to reinstate Standard Oil as a monopoly?

Furthermore, could the government overturn the Sherman Anti-Trust Act legally? This is directed towards the early Depression era United States.

I would consider that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act could be repealed by the Congress if it wishes to. The Government can not reinstate Standard Oil to its former self, but once the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is repealed anything would be possible.

 

[catboy637]

I would consider that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act could be repealed by the Congress if it wishes to. The Government can not reinstate Standard Oil to its former self, but once the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is repealed anything would be possible.

So, if I were to remove the Sherman-Anti Trust Act, monopolies would be perfectly legal, right?

 

[TheMann]

So, if I were to remove the Sherman-Anti Trust Act, monopolies would be perfectly legal, right?

Yes, but politically extremely dangerous.

 

[DD951]

Yeah, repealing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act would be a political land mine, but selective enforcement or non-enforcement of such laws by order of high-ups in the Executive Branch even more so- at the very least, it'd be a big scandal if such a policy came out, and could even be illegal if the parties responsible for such an order made that decision because they were getting something in return- that scenario would bring all sorts of corruption charges, such as bribery, mail & wire fraud, the Hobbs Act, ect.- Federal criminal law, particularly in the white-collar area is very broad & expansive, and in that area, the US Attorney handling a prosecution has a wide variety of charges he could file.