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Commwealth V. Hunt (1842)

By Deon Roberson

Impact

The impact of this case let lots of workers know that they have the right to go on strike and not be charged with anything. Since the Commonwealth vs. Hunt case, many of workers have gone on strike to try and earn what they think they deserve or just to get their voice heard.

Background Information

The case of Commnwealth vs Hunt started with trying to get better working conditions. It was the first case the working unions had won. John Hunt and the Boston Bootmakers Society decided to go on strike for less hours and higher wages. They were all arrested and charged with conspiracy. Hunt, decided to go and rule for the workers by going to the Supreme Court.

Dissent

Rulings of lower courts

Other officals in the court was Samuel Hubbard and Samuel Wilde and they voted to have all the defandents guilty until Lemuel Shaw made his decision. They thought that striking was illegal and that it was a punishable crime.

At first, the Boston municipal courts unanimously ruled that all the defendants were guilty of criminal conspiracy, until an appeal was made by defense attorney Robert Rontaul Jr. who caused the people in the court to second guess themselves. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw wrote the majority opinion when he sided with the defendants and declared that the formation of labor unions was legal as long as the methods used in the union and strike were legal. His strong words made the rest of the court follow suit and the Boston Bootmakers Society won the right to form unions all over Massachusetts

Arguments of both sides

Decision

John Hunt and the Boston Bootmakers Society argued that workers should get better conditions and less hours with higher wages, but bosses argued that the working conditions was fine and the wages were OK.

At First, all of the court decided that they were all guilty of criminal conspiracy, but after Lemuel Shaw, the Chief Justice of the court stated his opinion that they were in the right, they sided with him in majority vote. John Hunt and the Boston Bootmakers were found innocent.

photo credit Nasa / Goddard Space Flight Center / Reto Stöckli

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