Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization

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Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization

Argued February 27 – 28, 1939
Decided June 5, 1939


Full case name:	Frank Hague, Mayor, et al. v. Committee for Industrial Organization, et al.

Citations:	307 U.S. 496; 59 S. Ct. 954; 83 L. Ed. 1423; 1939 U.S. LEXIS 1067; 1 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P17,048; 4 L.R.R.M. 501

Prior history:	Certiorari to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Certiorari, 306 U.S. 624, to review a decree which modified and affirmed a decree of injunction, 25 F.2d 127, in a suit brought by individuals, unincorporated labor organizations, and a membership corporation, against officials of a municipality to restrain alleged violations of constitutional rights of free speech and of assembly.

Holding

The Court held that Hague's ban on political meetings violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. The ordinances were voided by the court.

Court membership

Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes
Associate Justices: James Clark McReynolds, Louis Brandeis, Pierce Butler, Harlan Fiske Stone, Owen Josephus Roberts, Hugo Black, Stanley Forman Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas

Case opinions

Concurrence by: Roberts
Joined by: Black
Concurrence by: Stone
Joined by: Reed
Concurrence by: Hughes
Dissent by: McReynolds
Dissent by: Butler
Frankfurter and Douglas took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Laws applied

U.S. Const. amend. I

Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496 (1939), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. The case involved Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Frank "Boss" Hague who had in 1937 used a city ordinance to prevent labor meetings in public places and stop the distribution of literature pertaining to the CIO's cause. He referred to them as "communist."

District and circuit courts ruled in favor of the CIO which brought the suit against the mayor for these actions. Hague appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled against him and held that Hague's ban on political meetings violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. The ordinances were voided by the court.