Antitrust and Consumer Protection
Competition: Fall 2015, Vol 24, No. 2
Content
- A Tale of Two Statutes: Cipro, Edwards, and the Rule of Reason
- Antitrust Treatment of State Licensing Boards In the Wake of North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners V.F.T.C.
- Breaking a Monopoly: Vigilante Justice or the Sort of Innovative Approach We Celebrate?
- Capitalizing On Judicial Antitrust Experience
- Chair's Column
- Editor's Note
- Health Care Merger Analysis In the Era of Payment Reform
- Masthead
- Mobile Apps: Redefining the Virtual California Economy and the Laws That Govern It
- Off-label Use of the Cartwright Act: Will Cipro Require State Courts To Assess Federal Patent Validity In Pay-for-delay Cases?
- Pleading An Antitrust Conspiracy In a Post-twombly World
- Promoting Antitrust Compliance the Antitrust Division's Subtle Shift Regarding Corporate Compliance: a Step Toward Incentivizing More Robust Antitrust Compliance Efforts
- Putting Cipro Meat On Actavis Bones: a Case Study In Filling In the Legal Gaps
- Table of Contents
- The Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section
- The Northern District of California Opens Its Doors To the World's Civil Antitrust Disputes
- What You See Isn't What You Get: How the Colgate Doctrine May Apply To the Disposable Contact Lens Antitrust Litigation
- The Magna Carta and the Sherman Act
THE MAGNA CARTA AND THE SHERMAN ACT
By David G. Meyer1
This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Recent books and articles discussing the history of the influential document are ubiquitous.2 Those histories typically explore the ways in which the agreement between King John and his nobles in 1215 influenced America’s founders and contributed to the development of American Constitutional law. A frequent theme is that the idea of the Magna Carta—especially its perceived status as the seminal document establishing the concept of freedom under the rule of law—has been as influential as the actual content of the document (which primarily addressed a list of feudal rights and obligations).3
In light of its special place in our understanding of legal history, it is no surprise that the Supreme Court has referred to the Magna Carta in more than 200 opinions. As one might expect, many of these references occurred in the context of discussing the origin of fundamental Constitutional rights such as due process.4 However, it is perhaps a surprise that the Supreme Court has also regularly invoked the Magna Carta in deciding antitrust cases.