Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc. v. Cottrell, Health Officer of Mississippi

Decided February 25, 1976. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-1148 · 424 U.S. 366 (1976) · Cited 227 times

Holding

The mandatory character of the regulation's reciprocity requirement unduly burdens the free flow of interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause and cannot be justified as a permissible exercise of any state power.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison · 340 U.S. 349 (1951)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, Inc. · 294 U.S. 511 (1935)
• Freeman v. Hewit · 329 U.S. 249 (1946)
• Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. · 397 U.S. 137 (1970)
• Kane v. New Jersey · 242 U.S. 160 (1916)
• Milk Control Board v. Eisenberg Farm Products · 306 U.S. 346 (1939)
• Huron Portland Cement Co. v. City of Detroit · 362 U.S. 440 (1960)
• McLeod v. J. E. Dilworth Co. · 322 U.S. 327 (1944)
• Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority District v. Delta Airlines, Inc. · 405 U.S. 707 (1972)

Cited by

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

• New Energy Co. of Indiana v. Limbach · 486 U.S. 269 (1988)
• Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. · 426 U.S. 794 (1976)
• Lewis v. BT Investment Managers, Inc. · 447 U.S. 27 (1980)
• Raymond Motor Transportation, Inc. v. Rice · 434 U.S. 429 (1978)
• Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. of Del. · 450 U.S. 662 (1981)
• West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy · 512 U.S. 186 (1994)
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission · 432 U.S. 333 (1977)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• Edgar v. Mite Corp. · 457 U.S. 624 (1982)
• Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization of Cal. · 451 U.S. 648 (1981)
• Dennis v. Higgins · 498 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Boston Stock Exchange v. State Tax Commission · 429 U.S. 318 (1977)
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)
• Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Tully · 466 U.S. 388 (1984)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).