U.S. v. E.C. Knight: Supreme Court Shields Sugar Trust and Eviscerates Antitrust Law

On January 21, 1895, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (156 U.S. 1) by a vote of 8-1, effectively gutting the Sherman Antitrust Act just five years after its passage. The case arose when the American Sugar Refining Company (the “Sugar Trust”) acquired four …