Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/422/454/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 10:02:56+00:00

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After their request for a jury trial was denied, petitioners, a labor union officer and the union, were adjudged guilty of criminal contempt for violating temporary injunctions issued by the District Court pursuant to § 10(l) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) against picketing of an employer pending the National Labor Relations Board's final disposition of the employer's unfair labor practice charge against such picketing. The District Court suspended sentencing of the officer and placed him on probation, but imposed a $10,000 fine on the union. On appeal, the Court of Appeals rejected petitioners' claims that they had a statutory right to a jury trial under 18 U.S.C. § 3692, which provides for jury trial in contempt cases arising under any federal law governing the issuance of injunctions "in any case" growing out of a labor dispute, and that they also had a right to a jury trial under the Constitution (the latter question being limited in this Court to whether the union had such a constitutional right).
1. Petitioners are not entitled to a jury trial under 18 U.S.C. § 3692. Pp. 422 U. S. 458-474.
(a) It is clear from § 10(l) of the NLRA, as added by the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), and related sections, particularly § 10(h) (which provides that the courts' jurisdiction to grant temporary injunctive relief or to enforce or set aside an NLRB unfair practice order shall not be limited by the Norris-LaGuardia Act), and from the legislative history of such sections, that Congress not only intended to exempt injunctions authorized by the NLRA and the LMRA from the Norris-LaGuardia Act's limitations, including original § 11 of the latter Act (now repealed) requiring jury trials in contempt actions arising out of that Act, but also intended that civil and criminal contempt proceedings enforcing those injunctions were not to afford contemnors the right to a jury trial. By providing for labor Act injunctions outside the Norris-LaGuardia Act's framework, Congress necessarily contemplated that there would be no right to a jury trial in such contempt proceedings. Pp. 422 U. S. 458-467.
(b) Absent an express provision or any indication in the Reviser's Note to 18 U.S.C. § 3692 that a substantive change in the law was contemplated, no intention on Congress' part to change its original intention that there be no jury trials in contempt proceedings arising out of NLRA injunctions is shown by the fact that § 11 of the Norris-LaGuardia.Act was repealed and replaced by § 3692 as part of the 1948 revision of the Criminal Code. Just as § 3692 may not be read apart from other relevant provisions of the labor law, that section likewise may not be read isolated from its legislative history and the revision process from which it emerged, all of which place definite limitations on this Court's latitude in construing it. Pp. 422 U. S. 467-474.
2. Nor does petitioner union have a right to a jury trial under Art. III, § 2, of the Constitution and the Sixth Amendment. Despite 18 U.S.C. § 1(3), which defines petty offenses as those crimes "the penalty for which does not exceed imprisonment for a period of six months or a fine of not more than $500, or both," a contempt need not be considered a serious crime under all circumstances where the punishment is a fine of more than $500, unaccompanied by imprisonment. Here, where it appears that petitioner union collects dues from some 13,000 persons, the $10,000 fine imposed was not of such magnitude that the union was deprived of whatever right to a jury trial it might have under the Sixth Amendment. Pp. 422 U. S. 475-477.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BRENNAN, BLACKMUN, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 422 U. S. 478. STEWART, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL and POWELL, JJ., joined, post, p. 422 U. S. 481.
The issues in this case are whether a labor union or an individual, when charged with criminal contempt for violating an injunction issued pursuant to § 10(l) of the Labor Management Relations Act, as added, 61 Stat. 149, and as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 10(l), has a right to a jury trial under 18 U.S.C. § 3692, and whether the union has a right to a jury trial under the Constitution when charged with such a violation and a fine of as much as $10,000 is to be imposed.
made by petitioners, 492 F.2d 929 (CA9 1974), who then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari. The writ was granted, 419 U.S. 992 (1974), limited to the questions whether petitioners had a statutory right to a jury trial and whether petitioner Local 70 had a constitutional right to jury trial in this case.
disputes and permits other injunctions in labor disputes only if certain procedural formalities are satisfied. It contains no exceptions with respect to injunctions in those labor disputes dealt with by the Wagner Act, passed in 1935, or by the Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947. Yet those Acts, expressly or impliedly, Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U. S. 235 (1970), authorized various kinds of injunctions in labor dispute cases and expressly or impliedly exempted those injunctions from the jurisdictional and procedural limitations of Norris-LaGuardia to the extent necessary to effectuate the provisions of those Acts.
The crucial issue is whether, in enacting the Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts, Congress not only intended to exempt the injunctions they authorized from Norris-LaGuardia's limitations, but also intended that civil and criminal contempt proceedings enforcing those injunctions were not to afford contemnors the right to a jury trial. Surely, if § 10(l) of Taft-Hartley had expressly provided that contempt proceedings arising from the injunctions which the section authorized would not be subject to jury trial requirements, it would be as difficult to argue that § 3692 nevertheless requires a jury trial as it would be to insist that Norris-LaGuardia bars the issuance of any injunctions in the first place. Section 10(l), of course, does not so provide; we think it reasonably clear from that and related sections and from their legislative history that this result is precisely what Congress intended.
"granting appropriate temporary relief or a restraining order, or . . . enforcing . . . or setting aside . . . an order of the Board, . . .
the jurisdiction of courts sitting in equity shall not be limited by"
29 U.S.C. §§ 101-115. In 1947, in passing the Taft-Hartley Act as part of the Labor Management Relations Act, Congress provided for unfair labor practice proceedings against unions; and § 10(j) gave jurisdiction to the courts to issue injunctions in unfair labor practice proceedings, whether against unions or management, pending final disposition by the Board. Section 10(l) made special provision for interim injunctions "notwithstanding any other provision of law" in particular kinds of unfair labor practice proceedings against unions. Section 10(h) was retained in its original form.
"From the effective date of Taft-Hartley in late summer, 1947, until June 28, 1948, the effective date of the new § 3692, an alleged contemnor of a Taft-Hartley injunction would probably have been denied the jury trial guaranteed by § 11 of Norris-LaGuardia, because the injunction would not have been one arising under Norris-LaGuardia itself."
Act injunctions outside the framework of Norris-LaGuardia, Congress necessarily contemplated that there would be no right to jury trial in contempt cases.
"Sections 10(g), (h), and (i) of the present act, concerning the effect upon the Board's orders of enforcement and review proceedings, making inapplicable the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in proceedings before the court, were unchanged either by the House bill or by the Senate amendment, and are carried into the conference agreement."
"[T]he . . . Norris-LaGuardia Act is completely suspended . . . in the current National Labor Relations Act whenever the Board goes into court to obtain an enforcement order for one of its decisions. Organized labor did not object to the suspension of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in that case, I suppose presumably because, under the present act, the only ones to whom it could apply are employers. Organized labor was perfectly willing to have the Norris-LaGuardia Act completely wiped off the books when it came to enforcing Board orders in labor disputes against employers."
"[W]hen the regional attorney of the NLRB seeks an injunction [pursuant to § 10(l) as reported] the Norris-LaGuardia Act is completely suspended. . . . We do not go quite that far in our amendment. We simply provide that the Norris-LaGuardia Act shall not apply, with certain exceptions. We leave in effect the provisions of sections 11 and 12. Those are the sections which give an individual charged with contempt of court the right to a jury trial."
in vindication of purely private rights, may seek injunctive relief in the case of all types of unfair labor practices, and that it shall also seek such relief in the case of strikes and boycotts defined as unfair labor practices."
S.Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 8 (1947) (emphasis added).
It is argued, however, that whatever the intention of Congress might have been with respect to jury trial in contempt actions arising out of Taft-Hartley injunctions, all this was changed when § 11 was repealed and replaced by 18 U.S.C. § 3692 as part of the 1948 revision of the Criminal Code, in the course of which some sections formerly in Title 18 were revised and some related provisions in other titles were recodified in Title 18. The new § 3692, it is insisted, required jury trials for contempt charges arising out of any injunctive order issued under the Labor Management Relations Act if a labor dispute of any kind was involved. Thenceforward, it is claimed, contempt proceedings for violations by unions or employers of enforcement orders issued by courts of appeals or of injunctions issued under § 10(j) or § 10(l) must provide the alleged contemnor a jury trial.
This argument is unpersuasive. Not a word was said in connection with recodifying § 11 as § 3692 of the Criminal Code that would suggest any such important change in the settled intention of Congress, when it enacted the Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts, that there would be no jury trials in contempt proceedings arising out of labor Act injunctions. Injunctions authorized by the Labor Management Relations Act were limited to those sought by the Board, "acting in the public interest, and not in vindication of purely private rights." S.Rep.
"[r]evision, as distinguished from codification, meant the substitution of plain language for awkward terms, reconciliation of conflicting laws, omission of superseded sections, and consolidation of similar provisions."
"Based on section 111 of title 29, U.S.C.1940 ed., Labor (Mar. 23, 1932, ch. 90, § 11, 47 Stat. 72)."
"or the District of Columbia arising under the laws of the United States governing the issuance of injunctions or restraining orders in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute"
"was inserted and the reference to specific sections of the Norris-LaGuardia Act (sections 101-115 of title 29, U.S.C.1940 ed.) were eliminated."
H.R.Rep. No. 304, supra at A176; 18 U.S.C. pp. 4442 4443.
"familiar rule, that a thing may be within the letter of the statute and yet not within the statute, because not within its spirit nor within the intention of its makers."
"It will not be inferred that the legislature, in revising and consolidating the laws, intended to change their policy, unless such an intention be clearly expressed."
case, arguing in favor of the applicability of the general venue provision, § 1391(c), took the position that the plain language of § 1391(c) was "clear and unambiguous, and that its terms include all actions. . . ." 353 U.S. at 353 U. S. 228. This Court, stating that the respondents' argument "merely points up the question, and does nothing to answer it," ibid., determined that the general provision, § 1391(c), had to be read in a fashion consistent with the more particular provision, § 1400(b). The respondents contended, however, that the predecessor of § 1400(b), which this Court had held to govern venue irrespective of a general revenue provision, Stonite Products Co. v. Melvin Lloyd Co., 315 U. S. 561 (1942), had undergone a substantive change during the revision of the Judicial Code in 1948 which effectively reversed the result dictated by Stonite.
"well established principle governing the interpretation of provisions altered in the 1948 revision . . . that 'no change is to be presumed unless clearly expressed.'"
409 U.S. at 409 U. S. 162, quoting Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Corp., 353 U.S. at 353 U. S. 228. After going to the committee reports, the Court went to the Reviser's Notes and, in the Note to § 1292(a)(1), found no affirmative indication of a substantive change. On this basis, the Court refused to give § 1292(a)(1) as revised the "plausible" construction urged by respondents there.
without a jury, but contemnors in serious contempt cases in the federal system have a Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial; (2) criminal contempt, in and of itself and without regard to the punishment imposed, is not a serious offense absent legislative declaration to the contrary; (3) lacking legislative authorization of more serious punishment, a sentence of as much as six months in prison, plus normal periods of probation, may be imposed without a jury trial; (4) but imprisonment for longer than six months is constitutionally impermissible unless the contemnor has been given the opportunity for a jury trial.
This Court has as yet not addressed the question whether and in what circumstances, if at all, the imposition of a fine for criminal contempt, unaccompanied by imprisonment, may require a jury trial if demanded by the defendant. This case presents the question whether a fine of $10,000 against an unincorporated labor union found guilty of criminal contempt may be imposed after denying the union's claim that it was entitled to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment. Local 70 insists that, where a fine of this magnitude is imposed, a contempt cannot be considered a petty offense within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1(3), and that its demand for a jury trial was therefore erroneously denied.
does not exceed imprisonment for a period of six months or a fine of not more than $500, or both." But in referring to that definition, the Court accorded it no talismanic significance, and we cannot accept the proposition that a contempt must be considered a serious crime under all circumstances where the punishment is a fine of more than $500, unaccompanied by imprisonment. It is one thing to hold that deprivation of an individual's liberty beyond a six-month term should not be imposed without the protections of a jury trial, but it is quite another to suggest that, regardless of the circumstances, a jury is required where any fine greater than $500 is contemplated. From the standpoint of determining the seriousness of the risk and the extent of the possible deprivation faced by a contemnor, imprisonment and fines are intrinsically different. It is not difficult to grasp the proposition that six months in jail is a serious matter for any individual, but it is not tenable to argue that the possibility of a $501 fine would be considered a serious risk to a large corporation or labor union. Indeed, although we do not reach or decide the issue tendered by the respondent -- that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial in any criminal contempt case where only a fine is imposed on a corporation or labor union, Brief for Respondent 36 -- we cannot say that the fine of $10,000 imposed on Local 70 in this case was a deprivation of such magnitude that a jury should have been interposed to guard against bias or mistake. This union, the respondent suggests, collects dues from some 13,000 persons; and although the fine is not insubstantial, it is not of such magnitude that the union was deprived of whatever right to jury trial it might have under the Sixth Amendment. We thus, affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
A fine of $25,000 was imposed initially, but $15,000 of that fine was subsequently remitted by the District Court based on Local 70's obedience of the injunctions subsequent to the adjudication of contempt.
"In all cases of contempt arising under the laws of the United States governing the issuance of injunctions or restraining orders in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the contempt shall have been committed."
"[b]y its own terms, [§ 3692] encompasses all cases of contempt arising under any of the several laws of the United States governing the issuance of injunctions in cases of a 'labor dispute,'"
"As the House passed the bill, it did not apply to all contempt cases under the act. As the Senate passed it, it applied to all cases, either under the act or otherwise. As the House passed it, it applied only to criminal contempt. As the Senate passed it, it applied to all contempts. The compromise was to confine it to all cases under the act and to eliminate the word 'criminal,' but the cases must arise under this act."
"Under the compromise made, the language of the Senate was agreed to, so that now anyone charged with any kind of a contempt arising under any of the provisions of this act will be entitled to a jury trial in the contempt proceedings."
Id. at 6453. Certainly when Congress used the phrase "the accused" in § 11, it did not mean to limit that phrase to describing only those accused of criminal contempt.
The dissent of MR. JUSTICE STEWART also suggests that this limited reading of § 3692 is "consistent" with the placing of that provision, based on § 11 of Norris-LaGuardia, into Title 18 in 1948. If there is any consistency in this suggestion, it is in that dissent's consistent position that Congress in 1948, without expressing any intention whatsoever to do so, made substantial changes in the right to jury trial -- including outright repeal of whatever statutory right there was to jury trial in civil contempt cases arising out of labor disputes, thereby reversing itself on an issue that had been thoroughly considered and decided some 16 years before in Norris-LaGuardia.
In arguing that § 3692 may not reach civil contempt cases, MR. JUSTICE STEWART also relies on implications which he finds in § 10(l) of the LMRA that § 3692, despite its language, has no application in those cases. As is clear from this opinion, infra at 422 U. S. 463-467, we too rely on § 10(l), as well as other provisions, in suggesting that certain contempt cases are not reached by § 3692.
There is also a suggestion in the dissent of MR. JUSTICE STEWART that one charged with contempt of an injunction issued during a national emergency, 29 U.S.C. §§ 176-180, would not have the right to a jury trial notwithstanding § 3692. Apparently this is so because 29 U.S.C. § 178(b), § 208 of the Taft-Hartley Act, "provided simply and broadly that all the provisions of that [Norris-LaGuardia] Act are inapplicable." Post at 422 U. S. 488. But the language Congress used in § 178(b), "the provisions of sections 101 to 115 of this title, shall not be applicable," is remarkably similar to the language used in the Conference Report. of the Taft-Hartley Act to convey the congressional understanding of § 10(h) of the Wagner Act which it was reenacting in Taft-Hartley: "making inapplicable the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in proceedings before the courts. . . ." H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 510, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 57 (1947). See n 6, infra.
MR. JUSTICE STEWART's position with respect to the applicability of § 3692 in proceedings brought in the Court of Appeals to enforce Board orders directed against employers is even less clear, but it would seem to be the inescapable conclusion under the dissent's analysis that, at least in criminal contempts of such orders, the courts of appeals would be required to empanel juries, a result that would certainly represent a novel procedure, see United States v. Barnett, 376 U. S. 681, 376 U. S. 690-691, and n. 7 (1964).
On the other hand, if MR. JUSTICE STEWART would limit § 3692 to apply only to disobedience of those injunctions newly authorized by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, that section, despite its language, would not apply to injunctions issued by the courts of appeals in enforcement actions against employers (it would be otherwise where unions or employees are involved) for the reason that the provisions of the Wagner Act included in the LMRA have the effect of exempting those situations from the reach of § 3692. Very similar reasons furnish sound ground for the inapplicability of § 3692 to contempt cases arising out of any of the injunctions authorized by the Taft-Hartley Act.
"In all cases arising under sections 101-115 of this title in which a person shall be charged with contempt in a court of the United States (as herein defined), the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the contempt shall have been committed."
The position of MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS, dissenting, post at 422 U. S. 478-479, that injunctions issued pursuant to the Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts are or would have been "arising under" the Norris-LaGuardia Act, and therefore subject to § 11 prior to 1948, is contrary to the understanding of the Congresses that passed the Wagner Act, n 6, infra, and the Taft-Hartley Act, infra at 422 U. S. 464-467, and of every court to have considered this question, see cases cited n 12, infra.
"The whole theory of enforcement of these orders is through contempt proceedings. . . . [T]he order of the labor board is made an order of the Federal court, subject to being punished by contempt. Now, in the Norris-LaGuardia Act, there has been considerable change of the ordinary procedure on contempt. I won't go into detail, but simply state that, in a great majority of instances, punishment, where the employees are the defendants, must be by trial by jury. This is, of course, not permissible in any case under the Wagner bill."
Hearings on S. 2926 before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, 73d Cong., 2d Sess., 505 (1934).
"the clear and unequivocal wording of section 10(h). . . clearly indicates a waiver of all the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, including the provisions for a jury trial, in cases where the Government was a party to the original action."
103 Cong.Rec. 8685 (1957). Representative Celler was the chairman of a House subcommittee which had previously held hearings on the 1948 revision of the Criminal Code including § 3692. The dissents offer nothing from the legislative history that should lead us to reject the clear meaning of the House Managers' statement with respect to the congressional understanding of § 10(h).
Petitioners' contention that § 3692 was Congress' response to the Court's decision in United States v. Mine Workers, supra, is particularly insupportable in light of the fact that the Reviser's Note, as set forth infra at 422 U. S. 469, was taken verbatim from the prior Reviser's Note to § 3692 that was reported to the House on February 15, 1945, more than two years prior to this Court's decision in Mine Workers and more than three years prior to the 1948 revision of the Criminal Code. The bill reported to the House in 1945, H.R. 2200, was adopted by the House on July 16, 1946, again prior to the decision in United Mine Workers and prior to February 5, 1947, when the House Committee on Education and Labor began hearings on labor legislation which eventually led to the introduction of the Taft-Hartley bill in the House on April 10, 1947. The identical version of the Criminal Code passed the House for the final time on May 12, 1947, almost two months prior to the House's acceptance of the conference version of Taft-Hartley.
There could be no argument that the change in wording in § 3692 was intended to reach criminal contempt proceedings for violation of those Board injunctions newly authorized in 1947, for the House of Representatives passed § 3692 for the first time more than six months before hearings even commenced in the House to consider the Taft-Hartley legislation, and passed it for the second and final time, unchanged, almost two months before the House accepted the conference version of Taft-Hartley.
The House Report states that "[t]he reviser's notes . . . explain in detail every change made in text." H.R.Rep. No. 304, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 9 (1947).
"Revision, as distinguished from codification, required the substitution of plain language for awkward terms, reconciliation of conflicting laws, repeal of superseded sections, and consolidation of related provisions."
The Senate Reports on the two revisions likewise expressed the intention of preserving the original meaning of the statutes undergoing revision. Compare S.Rep. No. 1620, 80th Cong., 2d Sess., 1 (1948), quoted in the text, supra at 422 U. S. 469, with S.Rep. No. 1559, 80th Cong., 2d Sess., 2 (1948) ("great care has been exercised to make no changes in the existing law which would not meet with substantially unanimous approval"). Testimony in the House joint hearings confirms that the methods and intent of the revisers themselves were the same with respect to both revisions. Hearings, supra at 6.
"There is one thing that I would like to point out . . . , and that is the rule of statutory construction."
"In the work of revision, principally codification, as we have done here, keeping revision to a minimum, I believe the rule of statutory construction is that a mere change of wording will not effect a change in meaning unless a clear intent to change the meaning is evidenced."
"To find out the intent, I think the courts would go to the report of the committee on the bills and these reports are most comprehensive. We have incorporated in them . . . notes to each section of the bills, both the criminal code and the judicial code."
"It is clearly indicated in each of those revisers' notes whether any change was intended, so that, merely because we have changed the language -- we have changed the language to get a uniform style, to avoid awkward expression, to state a thing more concisely and succinctly -- but a mere change in language will not be interpreted as an intent to change the law unless there is some other clear evidence of an intent to change the law."
Hearings on Revision of Titles 18 and 28 of the United States Code before Subcommittee No. 1 of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 40 (1947) (emphasis added).
This statement is particularly persuasive in view of the fact that its maker, Mr. Zinn, had served as Counsel to the Committee on Revision of the Laws for the previous eight years; the House Report on the revision of the Criminal Code pointed out that Mr. Zinn had, for that Committee, "exercised close and constant supervision" over the work of the revisers who prepared the revision. H.R.Rep. No. 304, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 3 (1947). The nature of the revision process itself requires the courts, including this Court, to give particular force to the many express disavowals in the House and Senate Reports of any intent to effect substantive changes in the law.
Madden v. Grain Elevator, Flour & Feed Mill Workers, 334 F.2d 1014 (CA7 1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 967 (1965) (§ 10(l) proceeding); Schauffler v. Local 1291, International Longshoremen's Assn., 189 F.Supp. 737 (ED Pa.1960), rev'd on other grounds, 292 F.2d 182 (CA3 1961) (§ 10(l) proceeding). See United States v. Robinson, 449 F.2d 925 (CA9 1971) (suit for injunctive relief brought by the United States against employees of a federal agency); Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen v. Bangor & Aroostook R. Co., 127 U.S.App.D.C. 23, 380 F.2d 570, cert. denied, 389 U. S. 327 (1967) (proceeding under Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.); NLRB v. Red Arrow Freight Lines, 193 F.2d 979 (CA5 1952) (proceeding brought for violation of § 7 of the Wagner Act, as amended by the Taft-Hartley Act, now 29 U.S.C. § 157); In re Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 386 F.2d 309 (CA5 1967) (proceedings for violation of § 7 of the Wagner Act, as amended by the Taft-Hartley Act, now 29 U.S.C. § 157); Mitchell v. Barbee Lumber Co., 35 F.R.D. 544 (SD Miss.1964) (proceedings brought for violation of order issued for violation of Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.); In re Piccinini, 35 F.R.D. 548 (WD Pa.1964) (proceedings brought for violation of consent decree involving Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.). The only decision to the contrary, In re Union Nacional de Trabajadores, 502 F.2d 113 (CA1 1974), was decided without express reference to any of the pertinent legislative history of the Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts; the panel of the Court of Appeals was itself divided over the correct result, see id. at 121-122 (Campbell, J., dissenting).
"In all cases of contempt arising under the laws of the United States governing the issuance of injunctions or restraining orders in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. . . ."
For the reasons stated by MR. JUSTICE STEWART, post at 422 U. S. 485-486, I am persuaded that §§ 10(h) and 10(l) of the National Labor Relations Act made inapplicable only the anti-injunction provision of the Norris-LaGuardia Act and did not disturb § 11. The broad mandate of § 11, to afford trial by jury in a contempt proceeding involving an injunction issued in a labor dispute, was thus, continued in § 3692. [Footnote 2/3] See Green v. United States, 356 U. S. 165, 356 U. S. 217 (1958) (Black, J., dissenting).
"In a suit at common law to recover above $20.00, a jury trial is assured. And to us, it seems improbable that, while providing for this protection in such a trifling matter, the framers of the Constitution intended that it might be denied where imprisonment for a considerable time or liability for fifteen times $20.00 confronts the accused."
I would follow the clear command of Art. III and the Sixth Amendment and reverse the judgment as to Local 70.
As initially enacted by the Senate, § 11 contained no "arising under" language, and would have applied in all criminal contempt proceeding, whether or not involving an injunction issued in a labor dispute. See S.Rep. No. 163, 72d Cong., 1st Sess., 23 (1932); 75 Cong.Rec. 4510-4511, 4757-4761 (1932). The "arising under" language was added by the House-Senate conferees to restrict the scope of § 11 to labor disputes. See id. at 6336-6337, 6450.
"§ 11 is not operative here, for it applies only to cases 'arising under this Act,' and we have already held that the restriction upon injunctions imposed by the Act do [sic] not govern this case."
As the entire sentence makes clear, § 11 was "not operative" because the Court had found that the underlying dispute between the Government and the Mine Workers was not the kind of "labor dispute" to which the Norris-LaGuardia Act had been addressed. See 330 U.S. at 330 U. S. 274-280. See also id. at 330 U. S. 328-330 (Black and DOUGLAS, JJ., concurring and dissenting).
We deal here with criminal contempt proceedings. Whether § 3692 affords trial by jury in civil contempt proceedings is a question not presented here and on which, accordingly, I express no opinion.
Petitioner Muniz apparently decided not to raise the constitutional issue in this Court; our grant of certiorari on the issue thus, extended only to Local 70. 419 U.S. 992 (1974).
E.g., Baldwin v. New York, 399 U. S. 66, 399 U. S. 74-76 (1970) (Black, J., joined by DOUGLAS, J., concurring in judgment); Frank v. United States, 395 U. S. 147, 395 U. S. 159-160 (1969) (Black, J., joined by DOUGLAS, J., dissenting). See also Johnson v. Nebraska, 419 U. S. 949 (1974) (DOUGLAS, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari).
As noted in my dissenting opinion in Cheff v. Schnackenberg, 384 U. S. 373, 384 U. S. 386-391 (1966), the "petty offense" doctrine began as an effort to identify offenses that were by their nature "petty," and the punishment prescribed or imposed was one factor to be considered in characterizing the offense. Under the Court's current formulation, the penalty is of controlling significance. See Codispoti v. Pennsylvania, 418 U. S. 506, 418 U. S. 512 (1974).
"[i]n all cases of contempt arising under the laws of the United States governing the issuance of injunctions or restraining orders in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute."
I cannot agree with the Court's conclusion that this congressional action was without any significance and that § 3692 does not apply to any contempt proceedings involving injunctions that may be issued pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment before us.
The contempt proceedings in the present case arose out of a dispute between Local 21 of the International Typographical Union and the San Rafael Independent Journal.
Local 21 represents the Independent Journal's composing room employees. Following expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement between Local 21 and the Independent Journal, negotiations for a new agreement reached an impasse. As a result, Local 21 instituted strike action against the Independent Journal. See San Francisco Typographical Union No. 21, 188 N.L.R.B. 673, enforced, 465 F.2d 53 (CA9). The primary strike escalated into illegal secondary boycott activity, in which four other unions, including the petitioner Local 70, participated. The National Labor Relations Board, through its Regional Director, obtained an injunction pursuant to § 10(l) of the National Labor Relations Act, as added, 61 Stat. 149, and as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 160(l), to bring a halt to that secondary activity. When the proscribed secondary conduct continued, apparently in willful disobedience of the § 10(l) injunction, criminal contempt proceedings were instituted. See ante at 422 U. S. 456-457.
the National Labor Relations Act, which authorized the injunction issued by the District Court, is, in the context of this case, most assuredly one of those laws.
necessary which do not, however, change their meaning or substance."
H.R.Rep. No. 304, supra at A30; 18 U.S.C. p. 4192. The brief legislative history of § 3692 is, accordingly, completely consistent with the plain meaning of the words of that section.
"the district court shall have jurisdiction to grant such injunctive relief or temporary restraining order as it deems just and proper, notwithstanding any other provision of law. . . ."
But requiring a jury trial prior to finding a union or union member in criminal contempt for violation of a § 10(l) injunction is entirely compatible with that provision. Although such a reading of § 3692 provides procedural protection to the alleged contemnor, it in no way limits the jurisdiction of the district court to grant an injunction at the request of the Board.
"[w]hen granting appropriate temporary relief or a restraining order, . . . the jurisdiction of courts sitting in equity shall not be limited by the Act entitled 'An Act to amend the Judicial Code and to define and limit the jurisdiction of courts sitting in equity, and for other purposes,' approved March 23, 1932 (U.S.C. Supp. VII, title 29, secs. 101-115)."
Although § 10(h) thus cites parenthetically all the sections of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, including § 11's jury trial provision, which was codified at 29 U.S.C. § 111, it does so solely as an additional means of identifying the Act. Substantively § 10(h), like § 10(l), provides only that the jurisdiction of equity courts shall not be limited by the Norris-LaGuardia Act. But Norris-LaGuardia, as its title indicates, was enacted to limit jurisdiction "and for other purposes." Section 11, upon which § 3692 was based, was not concerned with jurisdiction; it provided procedural protections to alleged contemnors, one of the Act's "other purposes."
In sum, the plain language of § 3692 and the absence of any meaningful contradictory legislative history, together with the established method of construing criminal statutes, require that § 3692 be interpreted to include a right to a jury trial in criminal contempt proceedings for violation of § 10(l) injunctions. Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
Section 10(l), as enacted in 1947, 61 Stat. 149, provided that, whenever the Board's regional official has "reasonable cause" to believe the truth of a charge of illegal secondary boycotting or minority picketing, the official "shall," on behalf of the Board, petition a district court for appropriate injunctive relief pending final Board adjudication. Once reasonable cause is found, a Board petition for temporary relief under § 10(l) is mandatory. See S.Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 8, 27. Congress in 1959 added charges of illegal hot cargo agreements and recognitional picketing to the mandatory injunction provision of § 10(l). 73 Stat. 544.
"any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee."
47 Stat. 73. Section 2(9) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 152(9), defines "labor dispute" in virtually identical language.
While the respondent concedes that unfair labor practices often arise out of a "labor dispute," he argues that the National Labor Relations Act is not essentially a law "governing the issuance of injunctions or restraining orders" in cases "involving or growing out of a labor dispute." Although it may be true that not all provisions of the Act authorizing restraining orders are properly classified as such laws, it is clear that Congress concluded that at least some provisions were. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Congress to have specifically exempted the jurisdiction of courts "sitting in equity" under § 10 of the Act from the limitations of Norris-LaGuardia, which apply only in cases involving requests for injunctive relief growing out of a labor dispute. See In re Union Nacional de Trabajadores, 502 F.2d 113, 118 (CA1).
Any such intention would be inconsistent with the decision to repeal § 11 and to replace it with a broadly worded provision in the title of the United States Code dealing generally with "Crimes and Criminal Procedure."
"Sections 10(g), (h), and (i) of the present act, concerning the effect upon the Board's orders of enforcement and review proceedings, making inapplicable the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in proceedings before the courts, were unchanged either by the House bill or by the Senate amendment, and are carried into the conference agreement."
H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 510, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. (House Managers' statement), 57. The section would thus seem, at the most, to be of limited relevance in determining congressional intent concerning the procedures to be used in district courts issuing and enforcing § 10(l) injunctions prior to final adjudication of unfair labor practice charges by the Board.
The principal piece of legislative history offered as evidence of an affirmative congressional intent to free from the requirements of Norris-LaGuardia criminal contempt proceedings for violations of a § 10(l) injunction is a statement by Senator Ball made during debate over the Senator's proposed amendment to that section. See 93 Cong.Rec. 4834. Particularly in view of the complete absence of any support for Senator Ball's expansive interpretation of § 10(l) in the committee and conference reports, see, e.g., S.Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 8, 27; H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 510, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. (House Managers' statement), 57, that individual expression of opinion is without significant weight in the interpretation of the statute. McCaughn v. Hershey Chocolate Co., 283 U. S. 488, 283 U. S. 493-494; Lapina v. Williams, 232 U. S. 78, 232 U. S. 90.
On its face, § 3692, which guarantees to "the accused" the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury in language identical to the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a jury trial in criminal cases, appears to be limited to trials for criminal contempt. That construction is also consistent with the decision of Congress to place the provision in Title 18, dealing with crimes and criminal procedure. Moreover, while it is clear that a trial for criminal contempt is an independent proceeding, and "no part of the original cause," Michaelson v. United States ex rel. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. R. Co., 266 U. S. 42, 266 U. S. 64, civil contempt proceedings to insure compliance with an injunction are extensions of the original equitable cause of action. See id. at 266 U. S. 64-65. It is therefore arguable that § 10(l)'s explicit statement that the "jurisdiction" of the district courts shall not be affected by "any other provision of law" renders inapplicable any otherwise relevant statutory requirement of a jury trial for civil contempts. See In re Union Nacional de Trabajadores, 502 F.2d at 119-121.
Although injunctive relief under §§ 10(j) and (l) is sought by the Board acting on behalf of the public, rather than to vindicate private economic interests, this fact has little significance in considering the policy justifications for requiring a jury trial in criminal contempt proceedings. Regardless of whether the Board or an employer has sought the injunction, in the absence of a jury trial, the judge who granted the order will be given complete authority to impose criminal punishment if he finds that his injunction has been deliberately disobeyed. The existence of this unbridled power in district court judges prior to 1932 was one of the principal factors leading to enactment of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, and, in particular, passage of the § 11 jury trial requirement. See generally A. Cox & D. Bok, Cases and Materials on Labor Law 75-76 (7th ed.). Accordingly, the accommodation of § 10(l) and § 3692 "which will give the fullest possible effect to the central purposes of both [statutes]," Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 U. S. 195, 370 U. S. 216 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting), is to recognize the Board's power to seek temporary injunctive relief under § 10(l) without regard to the limitations of Norris-LaGuardia, and to permit the issuing court to coerce obedience through civil contempt proceedings. But when the court deems it necessary to impose after-the-fact punishment through criminal contempt proceedings, § 3692 must be read to mean what it says -- the accused contemnor has the right to a jury trial. See In re Union Nacional de Trabajadores, supra at 121.

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