Defendant
Eugene V. Debs
Crimes Charged
Contempt of court and conspiracy.
Chief Prosecutors
John C. Black, T. M. Milchrist, Edwin Walker
Chief Defense Lawyers
Clarence Darrow, S. Gregory, Lyman Trumbull
Judges
Peter Grosscup, William A. Woods
Place
Chicago, Illinois
Date of Decision
12 February 1895
Decision
Guilty of contempt, no verdict on conspiracy.
Significance
In one of the most egregious cases of the courts siding with industry againstlabor, a federal judge issued an injunction ordering the American Railway Union to stop a strike against the Pullman Company and sentenced the strike's leader, Eugene Debs, to six months in jail for violating the injunction. The government then put Debs on trial for conspiracy but dropped the case in mid-trial. The Supreme Court upheld Debs's sentence for contempt of court in a major confirmation of federal judges' power to enforce their orders.
In the late nineteenth century, as heavy industry grew and railroads spread across the country, commercial centers like Chicago and other cities mushroomed. With this industrial growth, however, came growing abuses. Ownership of industry was concentrated in a handful of wealthy men, while the factory workers and others who made industrialization possible were not protected by the government. Companies were able to get away with paying workers low wages for long hours. Furthermore, most companies did not give workers benefits such assick leave or disability pay. To make matters worse, there were many "companytowns" where workers rented their houses and bought food from stores--all owned by the very company that employed them.
The city of Chicago, where the famous Haymarket Riot occurred, was home to one of the most flagrant abusers of industrial power. George M. Pullman's Pullman Palace Car Company manufactured world-famous railroad cars. The company operated its own company town just outside of Chicago. Not surprisingly, it wasnamed Pullman, Illinois.
The company charged workers higher than average rent to live in company-ownedhousing while paying substandard hourly wages. Furthermore, in 1893 the company responded to an economic depression by cutting wages 25 percent. In the winter of 1893, conditions were grim in Pullman, Illinois.
The "Debs Rebellion"
Eugene Debs was born in 1855 to a blue-collar Midwestern family. He began hiscareer as a lowly railroad worker. However, he soon discovered that his realgift was in politics, and he rose quickly in the budding union movement. By1893 Debs was president of the American Railway Union. Although the ARU was primarily a railroad-track workers union, in the spring of 1894 many Pullman employees joined. On 11 May 1894, the smoldering discontent in Pullman ignitedand all 3,300 workers went on strike. Although it is likely that the strikewas a spontaneous local event not called by the ARU, Debs quickly went to Pullman and assumed leadership of the strike. Because the ARU represented workers in nearly every railroad system in the United States, and the railroads threw their support behind Pullman, the strike soon became a nationwide railwaywork stoppage. The resulting paralysis of the American rail network was dubbed the "Debs Rebellion."
President Grover Cleveland was alarmed by the strike and sided with Pullman and the railroads. His attorney general, Richard Olney, went to federal judgesPeter Grosscup and William A. Woods to ask for a court order stopping the strike. Ironically, one of Olney's arguments in asking for the injunction was that the ARU strike violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was intended to break up large corporate monopolies and gave federal judges broad powers to issue orders stopping actions they deemed harmful to interstate commerce. At Olney's suggestion, Grosscup and Woods twisted the act's meaning and, on 2 July 1894, used their power to order Debs and theother ARU leaders to abandon the strike. The order even made answering a telegram from the strikers a violation of the terms of the injunction.
Furious, Debs and the ARU leadership resolved to ignore the injunction. Because violating a court order constituted contempt of court, Judge Woods had Debs hauled into court and sentenced him to six months in jail. Contempt of court is the traditional means by which judges enforce their authority, requiringno trial or jury. The government also charged Debs with conspiracy to blockthe federal mail: the ARU's nationwide railroad work stoppage had halted a Rock Island Railroad train carrying mail for the post office. In the meantime,the federal government's actions were not limited to legal arenas. PresidentCleveland sent federal troops to Chicago to crush the strike.
Debs Tried for Conspiracy
Unlike with the contempt charge, the government had to try Debs before a juryon the conspiracy charge. The ARU retained the famous lawyer Clarence Darrow, who was assisted by S. Gregory and former Illinois Supreme Court Judge Lyman Trumbull. The prosecutors were John C. Black, T. M. Milchrist, and Edwin Walker.
When the trial opened 26 January 1895, Darrow made it clear to the jury thatthe issue at trial was not Debs's guilt but the government's desire to crushthe union movement. Referring to an executive committee of the railroads called the General Managers' Association, Darrow said:
Darrow cleverly decided to subpoena George Pullman and the members of the General Managers' Association to testify at the trial. While the real oppositionto the "Debs Rebellion" was being served with legal process, the prosecutorsgrilled Debs. They hoped to provoke him into a socialist tirade against American industry and thus alienate the jury. Prosecutor Walker asked Debs how hedefined the word "strike." Debs, however, merely responded in a detached manner:
After Debs's testimony, events took a surprising turn. Judge Grosscup, probably influenced by George Pullman and the General Managers' Association, who were reluctant to testify in open court, stated on the day after Debs's testimony that:
Grosscup then adjourned the case. In a remarkable turn of events, the trial never reconvened. In effect, the government dropped the conspiracy charge. Ithas never been conclusively determined whether this decision was the result of Pullman's influence or the weakness of the government's case.
Darrow and Debs's other lawyers appealed the still-valid contempt conviction.However, on 27 May 1895, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their pleas and refused to overturn Woods's decision. (Legal citation reflects the Supreme Courtcase.) Debs served his six-month sentence in Illinois's Woodstock Prison with other ARU leaders jailed for contempt. In Re Debs has been cited many times since to demonstrate the sweeping powers of federal judges to punishthose who violate court orders.
Debs' Political Career Continued
Although his strike was crushed, Debs left prison with his political reputation intact. He became the leading spokesman for the American left, and was thepresidential candidate for the American Socialist Party in every election (except 1916) from 1900 to 1920. He lost every election.
When the United States entered World War I, Debs was outraged. He criticizedPresident Woodrow Wilson in the harshest terms, and in United States v. Debs was charged with treason. For the most part, the charges against Debswere the result of his support of the International Workers of the World, known as the "Wobblies." This time, however, a court found Debs guilty. Debs's appeals to the Supreme Court were unsuccessful. While in prison, Debs ran forthe fifth and final time as the Socialist Party's candidate for president. Again, he was unsuccessful in his bid to become the nation's chief executive.
Stung by Debs's criticism, President Wilson refused to pardon him. Among Debs's choice comments about Wilson were such gems as:
Warren G. Harding, who won the 1920 presidential election, was more charitable. Harding pardoned Debs in December of 1921 and even invited him to the White House on Christmas Day. But Debs found that the Socialist Party had lost its political force. He spent his final years with his wife in quiet retirementand died in 1926.
Related Cases
Contempt of Court
Conduct that defies or undermines the authority and justice of a court is considered contempt of court and is punishable by jail, fines, and other forms of retribution. A court can charge plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers, court personnel, jurors, witnesses, and observers with contempt of court for inappropriate behavior. In addition, a court generally has considerable latitude in making contempt charges. Contempt of court charges also can be categorized as civil or criminal and direct or indirect. Contempt of court charges intend to discourage behavior that undermines the court's authority and prevents the court from administering justice.
However, because courts have ample latitude for determining what amounts to contempt of court and how to punish it, some legal scholars argue that the courts have too much power and leeway for determining and punishing contempt ofcourt. Because judges who make criminal contempt charges sometimes hear thesecases, they may issue punishments that are too severe, especially when theyare the offended party. Critics point to cases where judges imposed excessivefines and jail sentences relative to the offenses committed. In some cases people who have refused to give courts requested evidence have been incarcerated for several years as a result.
Sources
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Minneapolis, Minnesota: West Publishing, 1998.
Eugene V. Debs
Crimes Charged
Contempt of court and conspiracy.
Chief Prosecutors
John C. Black, T. M. Milchrist, Edwin Walker
Chief Defense Lawyers
Clarence Darrow, S. Gregory, Lyman Trumbull
Judges
Peter Grosscup, William A. Woods
Place
Chicago, Illinois
Date of Decision
12 February 1895
Decision
Guilty of contempt, no verdict on conspiracy.
Significance
In one of the most egregious cases of the courts siding with industry againstlabor, a federal judge issued an injunction ordering the American Railway Union to stop a strike against the Pullman Company and sentenced the strike's leader, Eugene Debs, to six months in jail for violating the injunction. The government then put Debs on trial for conspiracy but dropped the case in mid-trial. The Supreme Court upheld Debs's sentence for contempt of court in a major confirmation of federal judges' power to enforce their orders.
In the late nineteenth century, as heavy industry grew and railroads spread across the country, commercial centers like Chicago and other cities mushroomed. With this industrial growth, however, came growing abuses. Ownership of industry was concentrated in a handful of wealthy men, while the factory workers and others who made industrialization possible were not protected by the government. Companies were able to get away with paying workers low wages for long hours. Furthermore, most companies did not give workers benefits such assick leave or disability pay. To make matters worse, there were many "companytowns" where workers rented their houses and bought food from stores--all owned by the very company that employed them.
The city of Chicago, where the famous Haymarket Riot occurred, was home to one of the most flagrant abusers of industrial power. George M. Pullman's Pullman Palace Car Company manufactured world-famous railroad cars. The company operated its own company town just outside of Chicago. Not surprisingly, it wasnamed Pullman, Illinois.
The company charged workers higher than average rent to live in company-ownedhousing while paying substandard hourly wages. Furthermore, in 1893 the company responded to an economic depression by cutting wages 25 percent. In the winter of 1893, conditions were grim in Pullman, Illinois.
The "Debs Rebellion"
Eugene Debs was born in 1855 to a blue-collar Midwestern family. He began hiscareer as a lowly railroad worker. However, he soon discovered that his realgift was in politics, and he rose quickly in the budding union movement. By1893 Debs was president of the American Railway Union. Although the ARU was primarily a railroad-track workers union, in the spring of 1894 many Pullman employees joined. On 11 May 1894, the smoldering discontent in Pullman ignitedand all 3,300 workers went on strike. Although it is likely that the strikewas a spontaneous local event not called by the ARU, Debs quickly went to Pullman and assumed leadership of the strike. Because the ARU represented workers in nearly every railroad system in the United States, and the railroads threw their support behind Pullman, the strike soon became a nationwide railwaywork stoppage. The resulting paralysis of the American rail network was dubbed the "Debs Rebellion."
President Grover Cleveland was alarmed by the strike and sided with Pullman and the railroads. His attorney general, Richard Olney, went to federal judgesPeter Grosscup and William A. Woods to ask for a court order stopping the strike. Ironically, one of Olney's arguments in asking for the injunction was that the ARU strike violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was intended to break up large corporate monopolies and gave federal judges broad powers to issue orders stopping actions they deemed harmful to interstate commerce. At Olney's suggestion, Grosscup and Woods twisted the act's meaning and, on 2 July 1894, used their power to order Debs and theother ARU leaders to abandon the strike. The order even made answering a telegram from the strikers a violation of the terms of the injunction.
Furious, Debs and the ARU leadership resolved to ignore the injunction. Because violating a court order constituted contempt of court, Judge Woods had Debs hauled into court and sentenced him to six months in jail. Contempt of court is the traditional means by which judges enforce their authority, requiringno trial or jury. The government also charged Debs with conspiracy to blockthe federal mail: the ARU's nationwide railroad work stoppage had halted a Rock Island Railroad train carrying mail for the post office. In the meantime,the federal government's actions were not limited to legal arenas. PresidentCleveland sent federal troops to Chicago to crush the strike.
Debs Tried for Conspiracy
Unlike with the contempt charge, the government had to try Debs before a juryon the conspiracy charge. The ARU retained the famous lawyer Clarence Darrow, who was assisted by S. Gregory and former Illinois Supreme Court Judge Lyman Trumbull. The prosecutors were John C. Black, T. M. Milchrist, and Edwin Walker.
When the trial opened 26 January 1895, Darrow made it clear to the jury thatthe issue at trial was not Debs's guilt but the government's desire to crushthe union movement. Referring to an executive committee of the railroads called the General Managers' Association, Darrow said:
This is an historic case which will count much for liberty or against liberty . . . Conspiracy, from the days of tyranny in England down to the day the General Managers' Association used it as a club, has been the favorite weapon of every tyrant. It is an effort to punish the crime of thought.
Darrow cleverly decided to subpoena George Pullman and the members of the General Managers' Association to testify at the trial. While the real oppositionto the "Debs Rebellion" was being served with legal process, the prosecutorsgrilled Debs. They hoped to provoke him into a socialist tirade against American industry and thus alienate the jury. Prosecutor Walker asked Debs how hedefined the word "strike." Debs, however, merely responded in a detached manner:
A strike is a stoppage of work at a given time by men actingin concert in order to redress some real or imaginary grievance.
Walker: Mr. Debs, will you define the meaning of the word "scab"?
A scab in labor unions means the same as a traitor to his country. It means a man who betrays his fellow men by taking their places when they go on strike for a principle. It does not apply to non-union menwho refuse to quit work.
After Debs's testimony, events took a surprising turn. Judge Grosscup, probably influenced by George Pullman and the General Managers' Association, who were reluctant to testify in open court, stated on the day after Debs's testimony that:
Owing to the sickness of a juror and the certificate ofhis physician that he will not be able to get out for two or three days, I think it will be necessary to adjourn the further taking of testimony in this case.
Grosscup then adjourned the case. In a remarkable turn of events, the trial never reconvened. In effect, the government dropped the conspiracy charge. Ithas never been conclusively determined whether this decision was the result of Pullman's influence or the weakness of the government's case.
Darrow and Debs's other lawyers appealed the still-valid contempt conviction.However, on 27 May 1895, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their pleas and refused to overturn Woods's decision. (Legal citation reflects the Supreme Courtcase.) Debs served his six-month sentence in Illinois's Woodstock Prison with other ARU leaders jailed for contempt. In Re Debs has been cited many times since to demonstrate the sweeping powers of federal judges to punishthose who violate court orders.
Debs' Political Career Continued
Although his strike was crushed, Debs left prison with his political reputation intact. He became the leading spokesman for the American left, and was thepresidential candidate for the American Socialist Party in every election (except 1916) from 1900 to 1920. He lost every election.
When the United States entered World War I, Debs was outraged. He criticizedPresident Woodrow Wilson in the harshest terms, and in United States v. Debs was charged with treason. For the most part, the charges against Debswere the result of his support of the International Workers of the World, known as the "Wobblies." This time, however, a court found Debs guilty. Debs's appeals to the Supreme Court were unsuccessful. While in prison, Debs ran forthe fifth and final time as the Socialist Party's candidate for president. Again, he was unsuccessful in his bid to become the nation's chief executive.
Stung by Debs's criticism, President Wilson refused to pardon him. Among Debs's choice comments about Wilson were such gems as:
No man in public life in American history ever retired so thoroughly discredited, so scathingly rebuked, so overwhelmingly impeached and repudiated as Woodrow Wilson.
Warren G. Harding, who won the 1920 presidential election, was more charitable. Harding pardoned Debs in December of 1921 and even invited him to the White House on Christmas Day. But Debs found that the Socialist Party had lost its political force. He spent his final years with his wife in quiet retirementand died in 1926.
Related Cases
- Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 (1904).
- Patton v. United States, 281 U.S. 276 (1930).
- Nebbia v. New York, 291 U.S. 502 (1934).
- Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942).
Contempt of Court
Conduct that defies or undermines the authority and justice of a court is considered contempt of court and is punishable by jail, fines, and other forms of retribution. A court can charge plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers, court personnel, jurors, witnesses, and observers with contempt of court for inappropriate behavior. In addition, a court generally has considerable latitude in making contempt charges. Contempt of court charges also can be categorized as civil or criminal and direct or indirect. Contempt of court charges intend to discourage behavior that undermines the court's authority and prevents the court from administering justice.
However, because courts have ample latitude for determining what amounts to contempt of court and how to punish it, some legal scholars argue that the courts have too much power and leeway for determining and punishing contempt ofcourt. Because judges who make criminal contempt charges sometimes hear thesecases, they may issue punishments that are too severe, especially when theyare the offended party. Critics point to cases where judges imposed excessivefines and jail sentences relative to the offenses committed. In some cases people who have refused to give courts requested evidence have been incarcerated for several years as a result.
Sources
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Minneapolis, Minnesota: West Publishing, 1998.
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