Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Crovo

Background

A person sent a prepaid telegraph message at the Richmond office addressed to a business in Brockton, New York. The message was misdirected to Brooklyn, New York, causing delay. The sender sued the telegraph company under a Virginia statute that requires companies to transmit prepaid messages “as promptly as practicable” and imposes a $100 penalty for failures. At trial a jury found the delay and negligence occurred in Richmond, the plaintiff won, and the state appellate court denied further review, leaving the federal question about interstate commerce to be decided by this Court.

Reasoning

The key question was whether Virginia could impose a penalty for a delay in sending an interstate message when the fault occurred inside the State without unlawfully regulating commerce between States. The Court recognized telegraph companies and messages involve interstate commerce and are subject to Congress. But it explained the statute here enforces the company’s common-law duty to transmit promptly and merely adds a penalty for breaches occurring within the State. The Court distinguished earlier cases that invalidated state rules that tried to control delivery outside the State, and relied on decisions that upheld state laws addressing in-state performance. Because the delay was found to have happened in Richmond, the statute as applied did not improperly regulate interstate commerce.

Real world impact

The decision affirms that States can penalize telegraph companies for in-state failures to transmit interstate messages. Senders can recover the statutory penalty when the company’s fault occurred inside the State. The Court did not rule on separable parts of the law (like optional preferences), so some questions about other provisions remain open.