Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona - The Arizona Train Limit Law, Appeal To The U.s. Supreme Court, The Commerce Clause

Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona - The Arizona Train Limit Law

By the time the Southern Pacific Company and the state of Arizona squared off before the U.S. Supreme Court, the two sides had been battling before courts for 15 years. The germ of the controversy lay within a 1912 Arizona law prohibiting operation of railroad trains of more than 14 passenger cars or 70 freight cars within the state. At the time it was passed, the law was uncontroversial because i…

Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona - Further Readings

Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona - Appeal To The U.s. Supreme Court

The railroad appealed the Arizona court's decision before the U.S. Supreme Court on 27 and 28 March 1945. The state of Arizona continued to insist that the limit law was a public safety regulation. While the "commerce clause" of section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between the states, neither Congress nor the Interstate Commerce Commission (I.C.C.) had t…

Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona - The Commerce Clause

Congress is authorized, under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution, "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among several States, and with the Indian Tribes." This is the Commerce Clause, the basis for a number of Supreme Court challenges involving alleged attempts by individuals, companies, or--in the case of Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona--states to impede the flow of int…