In re Debs

The Court upheld the jailing of labor leader Eugene Debs for violating an injunction against the Pullman Strike.

Overview

The 1894 Pullman Strike paralyzed rail traffic nationwide, and the government obtained an injunction against the American Railway Union and its president Eugene Debs, who was then held in contempt for violating it. Justice Brewer wrote for a unanimous Court, resting on the government's duty to keep interstate commerce and the mails moving, together with the inherent authority of courts to enforce their own orders. Debs served six months and emerged a socialist hero. The decision made the labor injunction a powerful management weapon for decades, weakening organized labor until Congress curtailed injunctions in 1932.