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Gompers v. United States - Significance, The Provisions Of The Constitution Are Not Mathematical Formulas, Impact, Samuel Gompers

court petitioner decision respondent

Petitioner

Samuel Gompers

Respondent

United States

Petitioner's Claim

That the alleged contempt took place more than three years before the proceedings began and therefore beyond the statute of limitations.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Alton B. Parker

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

J. J. Darlington

Justices for the Court

William Rufus Day, Oliver Wendell Holmes (writing for the Court), Charles Evans Hughes, Joseph Rucker Lamar, Horace Harmon Lurton, Joseph McKenna, Edward Douglass White

Justices Dissenting

Mahlon Pitney, Willis Van Devanter

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

11 May 1914

Decision

The Court reversed the decision of the lower court based on the statue of limitations to punish contempt was three years.

Related Cases

  • Green v. United States, 356 U.S. 165 (1958).
  • United States v. Barnett, 377 U.S. 973 (1964).
  • Bloom v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194 (1968).

Sources

Foner, Eric, and John A. Garaty, eds. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.

Further Readings

  • Hall, Kermit L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford Press, 1992.
  • Mandel, Bernard. Samuel Gompers: A Biography. Yellow Springs, OH: The Antioch Press, 1963.

Additional Topics

Gompers v. United States - Significance

In this case the Court settled controversy over whether contempt was actually a crime by stating that it definitely was. It also resolved the issue of a statute of limitations for punishing contempt, settling on a term of three years. Before 1932, the courts attempted to control the activities of labor unions by issuing injunctions that forbade strikes and picketing. Around the turn of the century…

Gompers v. United States - The Provisions Of The Constitution Are Not Mathematical Formulas

In 1914, the Supreme Court in Gompers v. United States looked again at the contempt charges brought against Gompers. Considering the statute of limitations the Court noted that the injunction was made permanent on 23 March 1908. The statute of limitations states that "no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense not capital . . . unless the indictment is found or the informati…

Gompers v. United States - Impact

In 1958, in Green v. United States, the Court cited Gompers v. United States as a case which discussed the relationship between criminal contempts and jury trial and that had concluded or assumed that criminal contempts are not subject to jury trial. In Gompers, the Court construed that summary trials were permitted in contempt cases because at common law contempt was tried without a jury. Until U…

Gompers v. United States - Samuel Gompers

One of the most influential leaders of the American labor movement, Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) was born in London and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1863. Like his father, he entered the cigar-making trade. He became a leader of the cigar makers union and eventually became the first president of the American Federation of Labor when it formed in 1886, holding the position until…

Gregorio Cortez Appeals: 1902-04 - Appeals Challenge Convictions, Convictions Upheld In Glover Shooting [next] [back] Gompers v. Buck's Stove Range Company - Significance, Historical Backdrop, Testing The Waters, The Court's Analysis, Impact, Unions

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