Welcome to the Supreme Court Antitrust Debates (SCADs), a
collection of excerpts from 72 of the Court's antitrust opinions from 1895
through 1993. By using this menu bar, which appears at the top of
each page, you may access SCADs cases in any of several ways:
For opinions organized by the justices who wrote them.
For a list of the available "guides" to SCADs cases.
For a chronological listing of all SCADs cases.
To return to this introductory page.
Cases selected for SCADs are
those in which a divided Court has "debated" significant issues in antitrust
economics. (Five of the most prominent contributors to these debates are
pictured above.) Each excerpt includes portions of both majority and minority
opinions of sufficient length to explain positions on these issues clearly
and completely. In addition, each retains the descriptive material needed
to establish the facts and context of the case. Footnotes have been excerpted
(as endnotes) only where they serve to clarify or expand upon the economic
issues, and only the most essential references to other decisions have
been retained. (Endnote numbers in each SCADs case have been cross-linked
to make movement within the case easier.) Paragraphs have been numbered
to facilitate reference to particular segments of the opinions. Finally,
a few editorial liberties have been taken to improve readability, though
great care has been taken not to alter meaning.
"Case guides" have been prepared
for a majority of the cases, with appropriate linking between guides and
cases. In addition to indicating the section(s) of antitrust law pertinent
to the case, the division of the court, the position of each justice and
the authors of the opinions in the case, each guide also includes the
principal question(s) to be adjudicated, key quotations from the opinions,
questions for study, and references to related cases in SCADs.
SCADs was conceived and designed as an educational tool in antitrust
economics, and has been used in its various stages of development atRipon College for better than
a decade. As a text supplement, SCADs enables students better to understand
the complexities and the often controversial nature of antitrust economics.
The cases also provide an excellent vehicle for class discussion, perhaps
with students assigned to support and argue one position against another
in an organized debate format.
World Wide Web users are welcome to explore these materials
and to use them as appropriate in furthering understanding of antitrust
as a policy tool. Comments, suggestions and questions would be appreciated.
