Nash v. United States

American Naval Stores Company and National Transportation and Terminal Company, through management including Nash (defendant), were indicted under the Sherman Act for conspiring to monopolize and restrain trade in spirits of turpentine through fraudulent conduct meant to force competitors out of the market; the defendants demurred, arguing the Sherman Act's criminal provisions were unconstitutionally vague because they required a person to estimate in advance whether particular business conduct would later be judged an illegal conspiracy. The demurrer was overruled, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.