Cal Hockley

In the 1997 box office hit movie “Titanic,” a character named Cal Hockley owns numerous steel mills. At one point in the movie, he is sitting around with his cronies drinking brandy and smoking cigars and he comments (no doubt referring to his mills), that they “… are beyond the scope of the Sherman (antitrust) Act; that’s what my lawyers will argue”. One of his sycophants responds, “That’s what Rockefeller said, but the Supreme Court isn’t swallowing it.” 

Assume that Cal meant that his lawyers will argue that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act does not apply to his steel mills because his steel mills are entirely intrastate activities;  therefore, the federal government has no control over them under the Commerce Clause. His associate replies that the Supreme Court did not buy a similar argument when “Rockefeller” made it. 

There are two parts to this assignment: 

1) Who was the Rockefeller referred to above and why was he so concerned about the Sherman Act? This is a simple matter of a Google search if you don’t already know. You don’t need Lexis for this one, and a 1-2 paragraph summary will suffice. 

2) Read Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1911), an early Supreme Court case. Briefly summarize the facts, and discuss in no more than 3 paragraphs why the Court reached the conclusion it did. Explain how you think the Court might rule in a case involving Cal Hockley’s steel mills and why.


An IRAC-style essay is not necessary for this assignment.