''Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization'', 307 U.S. 496 (1939), is a US labor law case decided by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Facts

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Frank Hague had in 1937 used a city ordinance to prevent labor meetings in public places and stop the distribution of literature pertaining to the Committee for Industrial Organization's cause. He referred to the CIO as "

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

." “Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions. Such use of the streets and public places has, from ancient times, been a part of the privileges, immunities, rights, and liberties of citizens” ( Justice Roberts).

Judgment

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and circuit courts ruled in favor of the CIO, which brought the suit against the mayor for these actions and which was represented by Morris L. Ernst, Spaulding Frazer, Lee Pressman and Benjamin Kaplan. Hague appealed to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

which ruled against him and held that Hague's ban on political meetings violated the First Amendment right to

freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

, and so the ordinances were void. This case brought forth the public forum to the Supreme Court, and is used as a tool for many other cases dealing with First Amendment Rights/ public forum issues. It took a long time after the 14th Amendment was adopted (1866) and ratified (1868) before the Supreme Court began to use it to assert individual rights against State and local Governments; which amplified the right to peacefully assemble and fight for freedom of speech.

Notes

External links

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First Amendment Library entry on Hague
1939 in United States case law Freedom of assembly United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court United States labor case law United States Free Speech Clause case law Congress of Industrial Organizations American Civil Liberties Union litigation History of Jersey City, New Jersey 1939 in labor relations {{SCOTUS-Hughes-stub

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes

External links