Petitioner individual filed an application

Procedural Posture

Petitioner individual filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain his release from confinement under an order of the trial court (California), which found him guilty of contempt of court for picketing in violation of a restraining order and committed him to jail for a period of five days, in a contempt proceeding instituted by respondent shopkeepers in their action to enjoin the picketing.

Overview: intentional interference with prospective economic advantage

The shopkeepers filed an action seeking to enjoin two unions and their agents from continuing to picket the shopkeeper's place of business and to recover actual and punitive damages. A temporary restraining order issued. The individual, while picketing alone, was cited for contempt; he was later found guilty and sentenced to confinement in the county jail. The individual filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus. The court granted the writ and discharged the individual, noting that the unions sought to force the shopkeepers to close on Sunday by means of a secondary boycott, that is, by attempting to induce the shopkeepers' patrons to transfer their business to other merchants.However, a secondary boycott peacefully conducted was legal in California under the constitutional guaranty of the right of free speech and the legal effect of the individual's actions was to enforce a valid secondary boycott. Thus, the complaint in the injunction suit and the affidavit charging the contempt charged only peaceful picketing in aid of a secondary boycott which was legal in California. Thus, neither the complaint nor the affidavit charged the commission of an act that could be enjoined.

Outcome

The court granted the individual's writ of habeas corpus, under which the individual sought release from confinement based on an order of contempt by the trial court for picketing in violation of the trial court's temporary restraining order, in a contempt proceeding brought by the shopkeepers in the course of the shopkeepers' action to enjoin the picketing. The individual was discharged and his bail was exonerated.