Injunction Uses

Introduction to Injunction Uses

Because of the many instances in which it may be used to prevent or halt the commission of wrongs, the injunction has become perhaps the most important remedy of an equitable nature. Injunctions are employed, for example, to abate nuisances, prevent the violation of contracts, protect patent rights, and stay proceedings in a court of law. Failure to obey an injunction is a contempt of court, punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.

In recent years, considerable controversy has attended the use of injunctions in labor disputes. The first important case involving the use of an injunction in such disputes occurred in 1894. In that year, during the strike of railroad workers in and around Chicago, Eugene Debs and other labor leaders were enjoined by a U.S. district court from interfering in any way with the railroads entering Chicago and from inducing railway employees to leave their jobs.

The Clayton Act, passed by Congress in 1914, limited the use of injunctions in labor disputes and provided, for the first time, for jury trials in certain cases arising from the violation of such injunctions. Subsequent court decisions extended the use of injunctions in labor disputes. Dissatisfaction with the situation resulting from these decisions, on the part of labor and its supporters, led to the enactment by Congress, in 1932, of the Norris-La Guardia Act, which restricted the issuance by the federal courts of injunctions in labor disputes. The Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, known as the Taft-Hartley Act, invested the National Labor Relations Board with power to seek injunctions to delay for 80 days strikes threatening “national health or safety.” Many states have statutes providing for the use of injunctions to limit picketing in labor disputes.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Injunction Uses in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Injunction Uses