- In re Debs
SCOTUSCase
Litigants=In re Debs
ArgueDateA=March 25
ArgueDateB=26
ArgueYear=1895
DecideDate=May 27
DecideYear=1895
FullName=In reEugene V. Debs , Petitioner
USVol=158
USPage=564
Citation=15 S. Ct. 900; 39 L. Ed. 1092; 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2279
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=The court ruled that the government had a right to regulate interstate commerce and ensure the operations of the Postal Service, along with a responsibility to "ensure the general welfare of the public."
SCOTUS=1894-1895
Majority=Brewer
JoinMajority="unanimous"
LawsApplied=U.S. Const."In re Debs", 158 U.S. 564 (
1895 ) [ [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=158&invol=564 Full text of the decision courtesy of FindLaw] ] , was aUnited States Supreme Court decision handed down concerningEugene V. Debs and labor unions. Debs, president of theAmerican Railroad Union , was involved in thePullman Strike earlier in 1894 and challenged the federalinjunction ordering the strikers back to work where they would face being fired. The injunction had been issued because of the violent nature of the strike. However, Debs refused to end the strike and was subsequently cited forcontempt of court ; he appealed the decision to the courts.The main question being debated was whether the federal government had a right to issue the injunction, which dealt with both interstate and intrastate commerce and shipping on rail cars. With an opinion written by Justice
David Josiah Brewer , the court ruled in a unanimous decision in favor of the U.S. government. Joined by Chief JusticeMelville Fuller and Associate JusticesStephen Johnson Field ,John Marshall Harlan ,Horace Gray ,Henry Billings Brown ,George Shiras, Jr. ,Howell Edmunds Jackson , andEdward Douglass White , the court ruled that the government had a right to regulate interstate commerce and ensure the operations of the Postal Service, along with a responsibility to "ensure the general welfare of the public."ee also
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 158 External links
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