The U.S. Supreme Court case Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Co. et al. v United States et al., 1963, revolved around the issue of whether or not a railroad company could abandon its line without approval from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company sought to discontinue operations on one of their lines due to financial losses but were opposed by various parties including shippers who used the line and local communities served by it. These opposing parties argued that discontinuing service would cause significant hardship for them, while the railroad company contended that continued operation was economically unfeasible. The ICC sided with those against abandonment, leading to an appeal in court where it was ruled that railroads cannot abandon lines without ICC approval even if they are operating at a loss.

In the dissenting opinion for Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Co. et al. v. United States et al., Justice Harlan argued that the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had exceeded its authority by imposing a merger condition without sufficient justification or explanation, and thus violated due process rights of the railroads involved in this case. He contended that while ICC has broad powers to impose conditions on railroad mergers, it must provide clear reasons for doing so which were lacking in this instance. Furthermore, he disagreed with majority's view about ICC’s power to regulate competition among carriers as part of public interest consideration under Section 5(2)(b) of Interstate Commerce Act; instead he believed such regulation should be left to antitrust laws and authorities unless Congress explicitly grants such power to ICC.