Congress, the Executive, and the Court

Few will quarrel with the statement that the judiciary often shapes the details and, indeed, sometimes the broad contours of statutes. major area of law contains a number of instances in which the Supreme Court, in the exercise of its judicial review powers,' has forced the law into a new direction by either giving new meaning to an existing statute or by defining new constitutional rights or obligations. One of the best examples of the judiciary's effect on existing statutes is in the field of antitrust law in which one of the principle statutes, Section One of the Sherman Act, simply proclaims that: Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade of commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal.2 Obviously, this literal prohibition against concerted action raises questions of interpretation. In the words of Justice Stevens

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