H.P. Hood & Sons v. Dumond

336 U.S. 525 (1949)

Facts

Hood was a Boston milk distributor. The Boston area obtained 90% of its milk supply from outside of Massachusetts. Hood had long obtained milk from New York producers and had maintained three receiving depots there. Hood sought a New York license to establish a fourth depot, a few miles away from two of its existing depots. The N.Y. Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets denied a license for the depot on the basis of a state law stating that licenses for new plants could not be issued unless the Commissioner was satisfied that 'issuance of the license will not tend to a destructive competition in a market already adequately served, and the issuance of the license is in the public interest.' The state courts rejected Hood's commerce clause challenge to the license denial. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.