granger cases
Granger Cases (grayn-j[schwa]r). Six U.S. Supreme Court decisions that affirmed the government’s right to regulate fees charged by common carriers, warehouses, and grain elevators. • The cases, decided in 1876, arose out of grangers’ (i.e., farmers’) frustration with the inflated prices they were paying to store and transport their agricultural products. Several state legislatures passed statutes regulating the rates. The affected businesses sued to have the statutes overturned on grounds that they violated the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court rejected these claims, holding that the activities involved affected the public interest and were therefore subject to the government’s regulatory authority. See GRANGE(2).
