Bob-Lo Excursion Co. v. Michigan

In Bob-Lo Excursion Co. v. Michigan, 333 U.S. 28, 68 S.Ct. 358, 92 L.Ed. 455 (1948), the Court had before it a Michigan statute which, like the Louisiana law in Hall v. De Cuir, 95 U.S. 485, 24 L.Ed. 547 (1878), required common carriers to serve all persons alike regardless of color. The Supreme Court upheld a fine under the statute against a ferry company which had refused to carry a Negro girl on an excursion trip from Detroit to an island in Canada. Speaking for the Court, Justice Rutledge said that neither Hall nor Morgan was 'comparable in its facts, whether in the degree of localization of the commerce involved or in any actual probability of conflicting regulations' between United States and Canada. The Court concluded: 'It is difficult to imagine what national interest or policy, whether of securing uniformity in regulating commerce affecting relations with foreign nations or otherwise, could reasonably be found to be adversely affected by applying Michigan's statute to these facts or to outweigh her interest in doing so. Certainly there is no national interest which overrides the interest of Michigan to forbid the type of discrimination practiced here.' 33 U.S. at 40.