123 N.Y.S. 967 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1910
The respondents before me have been adjudged guilty of a criminal contempt of court in violating an injunction order heretofore granted. As officers of the defendant Typographical Union No. 6 they so acted as to further the commission of acts of violence and intimidation upon the part of members of the union during the course of a labor dispute, which acts it was the duty of these officers to endeavor to prevent according to the court’s mandate. After successive appeals to the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals, resulting in affirmance in each instance, this court is now asked to direct the execution of its sentence, fine and imprisonment, and the survivors of the respondents directed to be imprisoned have petitioned the court for clemency in that respect. After mature deliberation, I have concluded that upon payment of the fines imposed, within ten days, the issuance of process for the imprisonment of the petitioning respondents should be stayed. The court’s acknowledgment is due to the relator and its counsel for their able and persistent defense of the court’s dignity in that they prosecuted the contempt proceedings without hope of pecuniary reward or reimbursement for the expense necessarily incurred; and since, after diligent research, I have been unable to find any direct precedent for the course taken by me, I feel it a duty briefly to point to the authority of the court, and the reasons why I deem that course proper. Punishment does not proceed from any duty to appease public wrath or private vengeance. Ethically and judicially considered, its aim is cor
Motion denied.