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Avoiding Impotence: Rethinking The Standards For Applying State Antitrust Laws To Interstate Commerce, David W. Lamb

Vanderbilt Law Review

State antitrust laws are broadly constructed. With sweeping, general terms, often mirroring the language of the federal anti- trust laws, most state antitrust statutes manifest a legislative design to prevent-and to punish a variety of commercial activities that are anticompetitive in purpose or effect. These statutes, in conjunction with consumer protection statutes, constitute the primary vehicles through which state authorities protect consumers from harmful, anticompetitive behavior. Of course, despite the importance of state antitrust laws in preserving a competitive marketplace, the Constitution confines their reach. Through the Commerce Clause, the Constitution vests in Congress the exclusive power to regulate interstate …