The U.S. Supreme Court case Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. et al. v Acme Fast Freight Inc., 1948 revolved around the issue of freight transportation charges and who should bear responsibility for them when goods are damaged in transit or lost due to negligence by a carrier company. The plaintiff, Acme Fast Freight Inc., was a forwarding agent that consolidated smaller shipments into one large shipment for transport by railroad companies including Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul & Pacific Railroad Co.. When some goods were lost in transit due to alleged negligence on part of the railroads involved in their carriage, Acme paid claims made by its customers and sought reimbursement from the defendant railroads based on their liability as common carriers under federal law (Carmack Amendment). However,the defendants argued they had contracts with limited liability clauses which exempted them from such payments.The court ruled against this argument stating that these agreements did not absolve them of full liability because they violated public policy expressed through Carmack Amendment which aimed at protecting shippers.

In the dissenting opinion for Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. et al. v. Acme Fast Freight, Inc., Justice Robert H Jackson argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and interpretations of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA). He contended that under ICA provisions, a railroad company could not be held liable for damages to goods transported by another carrier unless it had agreed in writing to assume such liability or if it were found negligent itself - neither of which conditions applied in this case according to him. Furthermore, he criticized the court’s ruling as an overreach into legislative territory by effectively rewriting parts of ICA instead of interpreting them as they stood; thus undermining Congress' authority and setting a dangerous precedent.