Supreme Court of the United States
Cotting v. Kansas City Stock Yards Company and the State of Kansas
November 25, 1901183 U.S. 79
Summary
The Court held that Kansas could regulate the charges of a stock-yards business affected with a public interest, but the challenged statute violated the Fourteenth Amendment because it imposed rate restrictions on stock yards doing more than a specified volume of business while leaving otherwise similarly situated smaller yards unrestricted. The Court also directed dismissal of the action against the Kansas Attorney General without prejudice, while permitting relief against the corporation and its officers. The Court did not decide whether the statute independently violated due process by confiscating property.
Holding
- Equal protection and statutory classification. The Kansas statute violated the Equal Protection Clause because it directly discriminated between stock yards engaged in the same kind of business under the same conditions solely on the basis of the quantity of business conducted.
- Relief against the Kansas Attorney General. The suit was to be dismissed as to the Kansas Attorney General without prejudice to any further suit or action.
Docket 1
Cited authorities
- sec. 17
- sec. 4
- sec. 5589
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