In this case a transportation company had been in the process of obtaining a certificate, as a ‘grandfathered’ company under Section 206 (a) of the 1935 Motor Carrier Act for having operated continuously from June 1, 1935 until the date of the hearing before the commission when they went bankrupt and were forced to cease operations. There is an exception in the act for companies that ceased to operate due to factors outside of their control. The lower courts found that the bankruptcy was a break in operations that disqualified the company from obtaining a certificate, and the majority of the supreme court affirmed that decision. Justice Jackson dissented from this case, vehemently arguing that the bankruptcy experienced by the company was precisely the kind of event, for which the exception was written, and therefore the decision should be reversed and the decision granted.
In this case a transportation company had been in the process of obtaining a certificate, as a ‘grandfathered’ company under Section 206 (a) of the 1935 Motor Carrier Act for having operated continuously from June 1, 1935 until the date of the hearing before the commission when they went bankrupt and were forced to cease operations. There is an exception in the act for companies that ceased to operate due to factors outside of their control. The lower courts found that the bankruptcy was a break in operations that disqualified the company from obtaining a certificate, and the majority of the supreme court affirmed that decision. Justice Jackson dissented from this case, vehemently arguing that the bankruptcy experienced by the company was precisely the kind of event, for which the exception was written, and therefore the decision should be reversed and the decision granted.