SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY DEPT. v. BARNWELL

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Case Basics
Docket No. 
161
Petitioner 
South Carolina State Highway Dept.
Respondent 
Barnwell
Heard By 
Hughes Court (1937-1938)
Decided By 
Hughes Court (1938)
Opinion 
303 U.S. 177 (1938)
Argued 
Tuesday, January 4, 1938
Decided 
Monday, February 14, 1938
Advocates
Frank Coleman
(Argued the cause for the appellees)
S. King Funkhouser
(Argued the cause for the appellees)
Thomas W. Davis
(Argued the cause for the appellants)
Steve C. Griffith
(Argued the cause for the appellants)
Term:
Location: Barnwell Brothers Inc.
Facts of the Case 

A South Carolina law banned from its state highways trucks which were more than 90 inches wide and weighed over 20,000 pounds.

Question 

Did the law impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce?

Conclusion 

The Court upheld the law. The Court acknowledged that the law posed a burden on interstate commerce. However, regulating state highways is "so peculiarly of local concern." Moreover, Congress had not previously invoked the commerce power to implement national standards on this issue. Hence, South Carolina had the right to act. The law was carefully drawn and applied equally to intrastate and interstate travelers.

Cite this Page
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY DEPT. v. BARNWELL. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 26 April 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1937/1937_161>.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY DEPT. v. BARNWELL, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1937/1937_161 (last visited April 26, 2013).
"SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY DEPT. v. BARNWELL," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed April 26, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1937/1937_161.