Square D Co. et al. v. Niagara Frontier Tariff Bureau, Inc., et al.

Decided May 27, 1986. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-21 · 476 U.S. 409 (1986) · Cited 339 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“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.

• Keogh v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. · 260 U.S. 156 (1922)
• Carnation Co. v. Pacific Westbound Conference · 383 U.S. 213 (1966)
• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• Georgia v. Pennsylvania Railroad · 324 U.S. 439 (1945)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Hishon v. King & Spalding · 467 U.S. 69 (1984)
• Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. · 473 U.S. 614 (1985)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Hospital Building Co. v. Trustees of Rex Hospital · 425 U.S. 738 (1976)
• Albernaz v. United States · 450 U.S. 333 (1981)
• Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois · 431 U.S. 720 (1977)
• United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn. · 166 U.S. 290 (1897)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• McLain v. Real Estate Board of New Orleans, Inc. · 444 U.S. 232 (1980)
• Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Fink · 250 U.S. 577 (1919)
• Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Perini North River Associates · 459 U.S. 297 (1983)
• United States v. Joint Traffic Assn. · 171 U.S. 505 (1898)
• Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Mugg · 202 U.S. 242 (1906)
• Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Robinson · 233 U.S. 173 (1914)
• Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Trucking Associations · 467 U.S. 354 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Maislin Industries, U. S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc. · 497 U.S. 116 (1990)
• Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn · 604 U.S. 593 (2025)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Kuhlmann v. Wilson · 477 U.S. 436 (1986)
• Dickinson v. Zurko · 527 U.S. 150 (1999)
• MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. · 512 U.S. 218 (1994)
• Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Greenwich Collieries · 512 U.S. 267 (1994)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 494 U.S. 56 (1990)
• Hubbard v. United States · 514 U.S. 695 (1995)
• South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. · 585 U.S. 162 (2018)
• California v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · 495 U.S. 490 (1990)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).