The U.S. Supreme Court case Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc., et al. v. United States in 1931 revolved around the Sherman Antitrust Act and its application to a group of dry cleaning businesses operating within New York City. The plaintiffs, Atlantic Cleaners & Dryers along with other companies, were accused by the federal government of price-fixing and monopolistic practices that violated antitrust laws designed to promote competition among businesses for the benefit of consumers. They argued that their business was not involved in interstate commerce and thus should be exempt from these laws; however, this argument was rejected by both lower courts as well as the Supreme Court on appeal due to evidence showing they had customers outside New York State who sent clothes across state lines for cleaning services provided by them which constituted involvement in interstate commerce under existing legal interpretations at that time.

In the dissenting opinion for Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. v. United States, Justice McReynolds argued that the Sherman Act was not intended to regulate price discrimination in a way that would interfere with ordinary business practices and competition. He contended that there was no evidence of intent or actuality of monopolization by the defendants, nor any proof they had conspired to restrain trade unlawfully. The majority's interpretation of Section 2 as prohibiting mere attempts to monopolize without requiring an effect on commerce was seen as overly broad and potentially harmful to legitimate business operations. Furthermore, he disagreed with their application of Section 3 regarding exclusive dealing arrangements since it did not consider whether such agreements substantially lessened competition or tended towards monopoly in any line of commerce.