Dean Milk Company v. City of Madison 340 U.S. 349 (1951)

views updated

DEAN MILK COMPANY v. CITY OF MADISON 340 U.S. 349 (1951)

A Madison, Wisconsin, city ordinance that prohibited the sale of milk pasteurized at a plant more than five miles outside city limits provided the basis for clarification of the limits on state regulation of commerce. A 6–3Supreme Court invalidated the law as an "undue burden on interstate commerce " because it effectively barred the sale of milk from firms in neighboring Illinois. Justice tom c. clark also found a discrimination against outside producers which could not be sustained as an exercise of the state's police power when "reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives" were available, as here.

David Gordon
(1986)

More From encyclopedia.com