control
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 371 U.S. 115 - Gilbertville Trucking Co. v. United States · 1962Most cited · 212 citing opinions
Interstate Commerce Act
control' 'shall be construed to include actual as well as legal control, whether maintained or exercised through or by reason of the method of or circumstances surrounding organization or operation * * *.' We have construed this language to encompass every type of control in fact and have left to the agency charged with enforcement the determination from the facts whether 'control' exists, subject to normal standards of review.
How the Supreme Court has restated “control”
Each Supreme Court definition of “control,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “control”
Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “control” — 670 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1931–1962
- ORIGINAL
Control resting solely on acquiescence, the exigencies of business or other considerations having no binding force is not sufficient to satisfy the statute.
affiliation
The requirement of control, in the absence of legal title or beneficial ownership, is not satisfied by acquiescence or by business considerations without binding force. There must be a control that is legally enforceable.
affiliated corporations
The statute is thus concerned, not merely with the acquisition of control of one corporation by another, but with the acquisition of control of a corporation which is doing the business of a carrier, because such control is in effect control of its carrier business. Control of that business, which may be effected by stock ownership, may also be 'otherwise' effected through a contract of a controlled carrier to purchase the business of the other carrier, if the purchase receives the approval of the Commission.
...such reference shall be construed to include actual as well as legal control, whether maintained or exercised through or by reason of the method of or circumstances surrounding organization or operation, through or by common directors, officers, or stockholders, a voting trust or trusts, a holding or investment company or companies, or through or by any other direct or indirect means; and to include the power to exercise control.