Sherman Antitrust Act

Sherman Antitrust Act
Long title	An Act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies
Enacted by	the 51st United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 51–647
Statutes at Large	26 Stat. 209
Codification
Titles amended	Title 15—Commerce and Trade
U.S.C. sections created	15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate by John Sherman (R–OH); Passed the Senate on April 8, 1890 (52–1); Passed the House on June 20, 1890 (unanimous vote); Signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 2, 1890;
United States Supreme Court cases
	List United States v. E.C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 (1894); United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Association, 166 U.S. 290 (1897); Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 (1904); Hale v. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43 (1906); Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. 373 (1911); Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911); United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (1911); Federal Baseball Club v. National League, 259 U.S. 200 (1922); Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader, 310 U.S. 469 (1940); United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131 (1948); United States v. National City Lines, 334 U.S. 573 (1948); Kiefer-Stewart Co. v. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 340 U.S. 211 (1951); Lorain Journal Co. v. United States, 342 U.S. 143 (1951); Continental Television, Inc. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 433 U.S. 36 (1977); Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society, 457 U.S. 332 (1982); Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde, 466 U.S. 2 (1984); Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp., 467 U.S. 752 (1984); Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447 (1993); Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007); Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine Communications, Inc., 555 U.S. 438 (2009); American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, 560 U.S. 183 (2010); North Carolina Bd. of Dental Examiners v. FTC, 574 U.S. 494 (2015); Ohio v. American Express Co., No. 16-1454, 585 U.S. ___ (2018); National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Alston, No. 20-512, 594 U.S. ___ (2021);

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.

The Sherman Act broadly prohibits 1) anticompetitive agreements and 2) unilateral conduct that monopolizes or attempts to monopolize the relevant market. The Act authorizes the Department of Justice to bring suits to enjoin (i.e. prohibit) conduct violating the Act, and additionally authorizes private parties injured by conduct violating the Act to bring suits for treble damages (i.e. three times as much money in damages as the violation cost them). Over time, the federal courts have developed a body of law under the Sherman Act making certain types of anticompetitive conduct per se illegal, and subjecting other types of conduct to case-by-case analysis regarding whether the conduct unreasonably restrains trade.

The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply. "Innocent monopoly", or monopoly achieved solely by merit, is legal, but acts by a monopolist to artificially preserve that status, or nefarious dealings to create a monopoly, are not. The purpose of the Sherman Act is not to protect competitors from harm from legitimately successful businesses, nor to prevent businesses from gaining honest profits from consumers, but rather to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses.