United States v. Sanders

290 F. 428, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1530
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedJune 26, 1923
DocketNo. 1305
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 290 F. 428 (United States v. Sanders) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Sanders, 290 F. 428, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1530 (W.D. Tenn. 1923).

Opinion

ROSS, District Judge.

This is a contempt proceeding instituted by the United States, through the district attorney at Memphis, Tenn., against the defendant G. V. Sanders, as editor and publisher of a newspaper called the Memphis Press, published at Memphis, Tenn., by reason of a certain article appearing in said paper on Sep-, tember 7, 1922, entitled “The King Forbids,” and which articlé was written relative to, and concerning the arrest of and the case then pending against one Jacob Cohen, as editor of a newspaper published at Memphis, Tenn., called the Labor Review. The case against the said ■ Cohen was likewise a contempt proceeding instituted by the [429]*429United States, charging him with having violated a certain injunction issued out of this court in a case then pending which had been instituted by the Illinois Central Railway Company et al., commonly referred to as one of the “strike” cases.

The case against defendant Sanders proceeded in regular order to a hearing in open court, wherein the defendant appeared in person and by attorneys, admitted the writing of the article in question, but denied any intention to reflect upon the court, or that any disrespect for the court was entertained, either at the time of the writing of the article or at any other time. It was contended by the defendant in person and in his behalf that he was merely discussing what he conceived to be the constitutional rights of Cohen in writing the article which had brought about his arrest — that is, the arrest of Cohen — and that in the article written by the defendant he was exercising his constitutional rights and was protected by the constitutional provision guaranteeing the freedom of the press.

At the hearing permission was given for counsel for both the government and the defendant to file briefs. Briefs have been filed, and especially in behalf of defendant elaborate arguments have been made, and many authorities cited and discussed. A clear understanding of the case requires that the article in question should be copied herein. It is as follows:

“The King Forbids.
“Memphis has been so excited these past few days over the arrest of assassins and would-be assassins that another very important matter has been overlooked by many. That is the arrest Monday of Editor Jacob Cohen of the Labor Review.
“Cohen’s arrest is a shining example of the far-reaching nature of the injunction obtained at Chicago' by TJ. S. Attorney General Daugherty. It was charged Cohen had used such words as “dirty scabs” and “industrial scavengers” in expressing his contempt for railroad strikebreakers. This is supposed to be a violation of the injunction.
“Maybe Editor Cohen didn’t know that the king had forbidden such things to be said about the strikebreakers. True, the king would not have been offended had he used the same epithets in expressing his opinion of any other class. It was not the words so much as it was the persons at whom they were directed.
“True it would have been lawful to have used the same words just a few days ago, before the fiat of the king on that matter had gone out. But the fiat had gone out, and it was clearly up to all subjects to be up on the king’s latest laws.
“Mr. Cohen possibly was not thoroughly up to date on questions of fundamental rights in this country of the free. No doubt he is one of those old-fashioned souls who believe there is something real in those words the Constitution contains about free speech and free press. He probably thought that antiquated doctrine would protect him in giving his opinion to the world.
“Ha! Ha! We shall see about that. Fetch him before the throne.
“Where’s the Stopping Place?
“If_ the courts can go that far in muzzling free press, where is the stopping place? Could there be any stopping place beyond that? If freedom of the press means anything at all in this country it means freedom of an editor to express his opinion on questions that are uppermost in the public mind.
[430]*430“If a court can take away that right by an injunction, either the court is out of gear, or the Constitution. We prefer to think it is the court that is off its base.
“Since the arrest of Cohen it seems that the local U. S. district attorney has decided to prosecute him under the injunction issued by Judge Boss in the federal court here.
“It makes no difference whatever whether the injunction was issued in Chicago or. Memphis. ■
“Both are in America.
“Let us read a few lines from the Constitution of the United States, Here is the First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”

The contention of the government relative to this article is that, whether the intention actually existed to interfere with or influence the court in the trial and determination of the Cohen Case or not, the direct tendency of the article was to interfere with the court in the determination of the Cohen Case, or to influence the court in arriving at a conclusion in that case; that the article was certainly calculated to influence the court.

In behalf of the defendant it is insisted; (1) That the article had no reasonable tendency to obstruct the administration of justice. (2) That there was no direct obstruction nor any reasonable tendency to directly obstruct, the action of the court, and that such was necessary. That it was not a question of whether there was a mere possible obstruction or interference. (3) That under section 268 of the Judicial Code (Comp. St. § 1245) the rule governing federal courts is the same as that which governs or is applicable to the Congress of the United States when exercising its implied power to punish for contempt any person obstructing its action when engaged in the process of enacting legislation.

The question here presented is one which has been much litigated, and about which there have been much written and many decisions of various tribunals, wherever there have been courts of justice or legislative bodies. Not all the decisions are in accord on the various phases presented by the many cases for contempt which have been considered, but upon one essential there is unanimity, and that is that the right of courts to punish for contempt in proper cases is a right necessary to the very existence of judicial institutions, and is inherent in every court of justice although certain limitations may have been prescribed by legislative enactment. This doctrine rests upon such sound reasoning that it would seem no comment is necessary. Were it not true, courts would be practically without protection, and instead of orderly procedure disorder would be the rule. And as was well said in Cooper et al. v. People of Colo. ex rel. Wyatt, 13 Colo. 337, 373, 22 Pac. 790, 6 L. R. A. 430:

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Bluebook (online)
290 F. 428, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1530, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sanders-tnwd-1923.