CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - LABOR LAW - PEACEFUL PICKETING GUARANTEED BY DUE PROCESS CLAUSE OF FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT

Authors

Eugene T. Kinder, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

In the recent Thornhill and Carlson decisions the Supreme Court of the United States declared an Alabama statute and a California county ordinance prohibiting all picketing, peaceful or otherwise, unconstitutional on the ground that such broad legislation deprived employees and union members of their right of free speech, guaranteed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In holding that employees and workers have a constitutional right to publicize the facts of a labor dispute, the Court was but taking another step in its recent crusade for the preservation of civil liberties. The decisions are interesting because of the conflict among state courts as to the validity of legislation of this general type and because of the Court's expansion of the concept of free speech. Of further interest are two problems raised by the decisions-whether there is a reciprocal right in the employer to publicize his side of the labor dispute, and what steps legislatures may now take to regulate picketing.

Recommended Citation

Eugene T. Kinder, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - LABOR LAW - PEACEFUL PICKETING GUARANTEED BY DUE PROCESS CLAUSE OF FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT, 39 Mich. L. Rev. 110 (1940).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol39/iss1/6