An Introduction to Bork (1966)

Douglas Ginsburg, Apr 01, 2006

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the cornerstone of the U.S. antitrust regime, broadly prohibits contacts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade and makes it unlawful to monopolize any line of commerce. The open-textured nature of the Act”not unlike a general principle of common law”vests the judiciary with considerable responsibility for interpretation, the discharge of which requires it to choose among competing values. In this important article, then-Professor Robert H. Bork examined the legislative history of the Sherman Act in search of the U.S. Congress’s intent in passing it and, therefore, the policies the judiciary should follow when deciding cases under the Act.