Ohio v. American Express Co.

Decided June 25, 2018. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 16-1454 · 585 U.S. 529 (2018) · Cited 190 times

Holding

American Express’ antisteering provisions in its merchant contracts—which prohibit merchants from avoiding fees by discouraging customers’ American Express card use at the point of sale—do not violate federal antitrust law.

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. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• Federal Trade Commission v. Indiana Federation of Dentists · 476 U.S. 447 (1986)
• Times-Picayune Publishing Co. v. United States · 345 U.S. 594 (1953)
• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. · 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
• Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 509 U.S. 209 (1993)
• United States v. Grinnell Corp. · 384 U.S. 563 (1966)
• Brown Shoe Co. v. United States · 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
• Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc. · 504 U.S. 451 (1992)
• United States v. Topco Associates, Inc. · 405 U.S. 596 (1972)
• Catalano, Inc. v. Target Sales, Inc. · 446 U.S. 643 (1980)
• United States v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. · 351 U.S. 377 (1956)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• California Dental Ass'n v. Federal Trade Commission · 526 U.S. 756 (1999)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp. · 467 U.S. 752 (1984)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food MacHinery & Chemical Corp. · 382 U.S. 172 (1965)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co. · 495 U.S. 328 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Rucho v. Common Cause · 588 U.S. 684 (2019)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2018). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).