Upper Lakes Shipping, Ltd. v. Seafarers' International Union

128 N.W.2d 73, 23 Wis. 2d 494, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 424, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2106
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 28, 1964
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 128 N.W.2d 73 (Upper Lakes Shipping, Ltd. v. Seafarers' International Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Upper Lakes Shipping, Ltd. v. Seafarers' International Union, 128 N.W.2d 73, 23 Wis. 2d 494, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 424, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2106 (Wis. 1964).

Opinion

Wilkie, J.

The first of five issues raised on this appeal is as follows:

1. On the circumstances of this case, should Pearl have been prosecuted for criminal contempt pursuant to the provisions of ch. 256, Stats., rather than civil contempt pursuant to the provisions of ch. 295, Stats.?

For the first time in these proceedings Pearl contended on oral argument here that his alleged contumacious conduct, if established, should have been tried under the criminal contempt procedures prescribed by sec. 256.07, Stats., rather than the civil contempt procedures prescribed by ch. 295, Stats.

*502 With the commencement of this matter on April 22, 1963, and throughout the proceedings in the Pearl I matter, all parties have assumed that Pearl’s alleged conduct was a matter of civil contempt. All parties have relied upon this assumption in the conduct of the litigation. Therefore, it is the law of this case that the civil contempt provisions of ch. 295, Stats., are the proper guides for the disposition of this controversy.

2. In a prosecution for civil contempt, does the contemnor have a constitutional right to trial by jury pursuant to the due-process requirements of the Fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution and/or sec. 5, art. I of the Wisconsin constitution?

Fourteenth amendment due process does not require that a contemnor in a civil contempt proceeding in a state court be tried by a jury. 3

Moreover, a contemnor, tried for civil or criminal contempt in a federal court proceeding has no constitutional right to jury fact-finding. 4 A fortiori, a contemnor tried for civil contempt alone in a state court has no federal constitutional right to trial by jury.

Nor is a contemnor in a civil contempt proceeding entitled to a jury trial pursuant to the provisions of sec. 5, art. I, Wisconsin constitution. 5

*503 As to the scope of the state constitutional right to jury trial, we have stated:

“The right to trial by jury preserved by this "[sec. 5, art. I] provision of our constitution is the right as it existed at the time of the adoption of the constitution in 1848.” 6

The scope of this provision is further limited to actions “at law” at the time of the adoption of the original constitution.

Historically, injunctive proceedings have been deemed actions in equity, and must still be regarded as such for the purpose of determining the scope of sec. S, art. I, notwithstanding the statutory merger of law and equity. 7 Moreover, proceedings arising out of attempts to obtain injunctive relief are also equitable actions for the purpose of determining the state constitutional right to trial by jury. 8 Therefore, contempt proceedings arising out of alleged violations of an injunction are for the purposes of sec. S, art. I, equitable actions, rather than actions at law, and the alleged contemnor has no constitutional right to trial by jury.

There is no statutory right to a trial by jury in a contempt proceeding where an injunction has been issued as in this matter. Since the conflict between Upper Lakes and Seafarers’ International Union of Canada was not deemed a “labor dispute” within the meaning of sec. 103.62 (3), *504 Stats., 9 the jury trial provisions of sec. 103.60 are not applicable.

3. Does the failure of Upper Lakes to file an affidavit prior to the contempt hearing, supporting the allegations of contempt in relation to Pearl’s conduct on April 22d, constitute procedural error justifying a new trial on that event, and further, does the failure of Upper Lakes to file interrogatories (although there was an affidavit filed), in relation to the alleged contempts on May 11th, 12th, and 30th, constitute procedural error justifying a new trial on these events?

In Pearl I, this court held that the private party seeking to protect his legal and economic position by means of civil contempt proceedings must, pursuant to the provisions of sec. 295.04, Stats., file an affidavit outlining the basis of the contempt charge prior to the commencement of the contempt hearing. In addition to the filing of such affidavit, the moving party must supply the contemnor with interrogatories “specifying the facts and circumstances alleged against the defendant and requiring his answers thereto.” 10 Failure to comply with these provisions will prevent the trial court from entering valid findings of contempt. 11

Although sec. 295.12, Stats., 12 does not literally require interrogatories where the alleged contemnor is brought before the court not by attachment but on an order to show cause, we note that the attachment and the order to show cause serve the same function, i.e., to bring the contemnor before the court. It is not reasonable that the right to dis *505 covery should turn on the label attached to functionally similar moving papers, and we conclude that the provisions of sec. 295.12 require interrogatories in both instances.

In the instant appeal, Upper Lakes filed no affidavit in relation to Pearl’s personal picketing activities on April 22d, nor did Upper Lakes provide any interrogatories in relation to this event. Although Upper Lakes did file an affidavit setting forth the basis of its claim of civil contempt in relation to the picketing activities in May, it filed no interrogatories in relation to this matter.

Pearl argues that the failure to file these documents deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to proceed to judgment. Upper Lakes argues that in fact Pearl was well aware of the nature of the charges against him at the time of hearing, and therefore the purpose of secs. 295.04 and 295.12, Stats., was satisfied.

In evaluating these claims, we must first distinguish the function of sec. 295.04 from the purpose of sec. 295.12, Stats. The affidavit provision informs the alleged contem-nor of the general nature of the charge against him. The affidavit is the equivalent of the complaint in the normal civil action. On the other hand, the interrogatory provision gives the contemnor detailed discovery of the moving parties’ theory and main lines of evidence. The interrogatories are the equivalent of the discovery provisions of sec. 326.12 applicable in the normal civil action. The purpose of sec. 295.12 is not simply to inform the contemnor of the nature of the charge — this is accomplished by the affidavit — but rather to *506 give him the discovery that all other civil defendants enjoy.

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Bluebook (online)
128 N.W.2d 73, 23 Wis. 2d 494, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 424, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/upper-lakes-shipping-ltd-v-seafarers-international-union-wis-1964.