Before 1932, the courts attempted to control the activities of labor unions by issuing injunctions that forbade strikes and picketing.

Around the turn of the century labor unions began increasingly to use boycotts against individual employers to force them to provide improved working conditions and higher wages.

However, the convictions were reversed on the ground that the contempts were civil but the lower court had treated them as criminal in nature.

A trial took place, the statute of limitations was held inapplicable, and Gompers was found guilty and sentenced to prison for 12 months.

Gompers appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the alleged contempt took place more than three years before the proceedings began and was therefore beyond the statute of limitations.