Hague v. CIO

Case Date: 07/22/2024

Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496 (1939), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. The case involved Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Frank "Boss" Hague who had in 1937 used a city ordinance to prevent labor meetings in public places and stop the distribution of literature pertaining to the CIO's cause. He referred to them as "communist." District and circuit courts ruled in favor of the CIO which brought the suit against the mayor for these actions. Hague appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled against him and held that Hague's ban on political meetings violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, and so the ordinances were void.