GOMPERS v. BUCK'S STOVE & RANGE COMPANY

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Case Basics
Docket No. 
372
Petitioner 
Gompers
Respondent 
Buck's Stove & Range Company
Decided By 
White Court (1911)
Opinion 
221 U.S. 418 (1911)
Argued 
Friday, January 27, 1911
Decided 
Monday, May 15, 1911
Term:
Facts of the Case 

Samuel Gompers and two other labor leaders were convicted of violating an antiboycott injunction. The American Federation of Labor (headed by Gompers) had run a notice in its magazine listing Buck's Stove & Range Company along with other companies under the heading "We Don't Patronize."

Question 

Does the injunction abridge free speech and press?

Conclusion 

The Court refused to reexamine the validity of the injunction issued by the lower court. However, the convictions were reversed on the ground that the contempts were civil but the lower court had treated them as criminal in nature. The aim of civil contempt is remediation while the purpose of crminal contempt is punitive.

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GOMPERS v. BUCK'S STOVE & RANGE COMPANY. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 03 May 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1910/1910_372>.
GOMPERS v. BUCK'S STOVE & RANGE COMPANY, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1910/1910_372 (last visited May 3, 2013).
"GOMPERS v. BUCK'S STOVE & RANGE COMPANY," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed May 3, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1910/1910_372.