Abstract

This article examines selected Burger Court cases concerning municipal antitrust immunity in order to determine whether the U.S. Supreme Court has a theoretical perspective on the relationship between the states and their municipalities. After delineating the constitutional position of municipalities through an examination of key Court cases and Dillon's rule, the study explores the derivative status of state-action immunity to municipalities in antitrust suits. In two significant cases, including one involving a home rule city, the Burger Court has refused to grant municipalities the state-action exemption granted states under the Sherman Act. But, in reinforcing the unitary relationship between the states and their municipalities, the Court has not addressed Dillon's rule or the ambiguities inherent in denying municipalities the residual powers of local self-government.

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