Court: antitrust case may proceed
on Aug 21, 2006 at 10:25 am
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is now free to seek an indictment of a Norwegian ocean shipping company and at least one of its executives for allegedly dividing up customers with its competitors. The Supreme Court on Monday morning denied a request by Stolt-Nielsen Co. to recall and stay the mandate of the Third Circuit Court that permits the prosecution. UPDATE on Wednesday p.m. The Court issued a corrected order, noting that Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., had not taken part in Monday’s order. He was a member of the Third Circuit panel that heard the Stolt-Nielsen case, but had been elevated to the Supreme Court before the Circuit decided the case in March.
Justice David H. Souter had refused on July 25 to delay the prosecution while Stolt-Nielsen pursued an appeal to the Supreme Court. The company then took its plea to Justice John Paul Stevens, who chose on Aug. 2 to refer the matter to the full Court. The Justices, without any notation of dissent, denied the application Monday in a one-sentence order. The order list can be found here.
The Court is in summer recess, but from time to time acts upon in-chambers motions and emergency applications. The stay application acted upon Monday was 06-A-79. This was the only order of note. The Court is expected to have one more summer order list before the Justices return for their new Term.
Stolt-Nielsen and its shipping subsidiary, Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group LTD, have an appeal now pending at the Court — 06-97. It claims that the Justice Department broke a promise not to prosecute the company or its employees in return for its cooperation in an antitrust investigation. The company says that it fulfilled its part of the bargain by giving up evidence about the alleged customer-allocation plot that led successfully to a criminal prosecution. The Justice Department, however, argues that the company broke a vow to promptly act to end its part in the anti-competitive activity in the “parcel tanker” shipping industry, so the immunity deal is void.
