City of Lafayette, Louisiana, et al. v. Louisiana Power & Light Co.

Decided March 29, 1978. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-864 · 435 U.S. 389 (1978) · Cited 703 times

Holding

Apart from whether petitioners are exempt from the antitrust laws as agents of the State under the Parker doctrine there are insufficient grounds for inferring that Congress did not intend to subject cities to antitrust liability.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar · 421 U.S. 773 (1975)
• Cantor v. Detroit Edison Co. · 428 U.S. 579 (1976)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Ohio v. Helvering · 292 U.S. 360 (1934)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader · 310 U.S. 469 (1940)
• Avery v. Midland County · 390 U.S. 474 (1968)
• Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp. · 341 U.S. 384 (1951)
• Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. · 365 U.S. 127 (1961)
• Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States · 410 U.S. 366 (1973)
• City of New Orleans v. Dukes · 427 U.S. 297 (1976)
• Hospital Building Co. v. Trustees of Rex Hospital · 425 U.S. 738 (1976)
• United Mine Workers v. Pennington · 381 U.S. 657 (1965)
• California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited · 404 U.S. 508 (1972)
• United States v. Topco Associates, Inc. · 405 U.S. 596 (1972)
• United States v. California · 297 U.S. 175 (1936)
• Georgia v. Evans · 316 U.S. 159 (1942)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• Perma Life Mufflers, Inc. v. International Parts Corp. · 392 U.S. 134 (1968)
• Mandeville Island Farms, Inc. v. American Crystal Sugar Co. · 334 U.S. 219 (1948)
• Lincoln County v. Luning · 133 U.S. 529 (1890)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Folsom v. Mayor and Administrators of New Orleans · 109 U.S. 285 (1883)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
• Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill · 332 U.S. 380 (1947)
• Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc. · 422 U.S. 922 (1975)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder · 455 U.S. 40 (1982)
• Town of Hallie v. City of Eau Claire · 471 U.S. 34 (1985)
• Hoover v. Ronwin · 466 U.S. 558 (1984)
• City of Columbia v. Omni Outdoor Advertising, Inc. · 499 U.S. 365 (1991)
• Fisher v. City of Berkeley · 475 U.S. 260 (1986)
• Ball v. James · 451 U.S. 355 (1981)
• Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference, Inc. v. United States · 471 U.S. 48 (1985)
• California Retail Liquor Dealers Assn. v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc. · 445 U.S. 97 (1980)
• Cook County v. United States Ex Rel. Chandler · 538 U.S. 119 (2003)
• United Transportation Union v. Long Island Rail Road · 455 U.S. 678 (1982)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)
• New Motor Vehicle Bd. of Cal. v. Orrin W. Fox Co. · 439 U.S. 96 (1978)
• Patrick v. Burget · 486 U.S. 94 (1988)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Ticor Title Insurance · 504 U.S. 621 (1992)
• 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy · 479 U.S. 335 (1987)
• Inyo County, California v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony · 538 U.S. 701 (2003)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1978). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).