icularly in labor disputes, has
been a fruitful source of cases dealing with contempt of court. In
United States _v._ United Mine Workers[46] the Court held that
disobedience of a temporary restraining order issued for the purpose of
maintaining existing conditions, pending the determination of the
court's jurisdiction, is punishable as criminal contempt where the issue
is not frivolous but substantial. Secondly, the Court held that an order
issued by a court with jurisdiction over the subject matter and person
must be obeyed by the parties until it is reversed by orderly and proper
proceedings, even though the statute under which the order is issued is
unconstitutional. Thirdly, on the basis of United States _v._ Shipp,[47]
it was held that violations of a court's order are punishable as
criminal contempt even though the order is set aside on appeal as in
excess of the court's jurisdiction or though the basic action has become
moot. Finally, the Court held that conduct can amount to both civil and
criminal contempt, and the same acts may justify a court in resorting to
coercive and to punitive measures, which may be imposed in a single
proceeding.

Criminal Versus Civil Contempts

Prior to the United Mine Workers Case, the Court had distinguished
between criminal and civil contempts on the basis of the vindication of
the authority of the courts on the one hand and the preservation and
enforcement of the rights of the parties on the other. A civil contempt
consists of the refusal of a person in a civil case to obey a mandatory
order. It is incomplete in nature and may be purged by obedience to the
Court order. In criminal contempt, however, the act of contempt has been
completed, punishment is imposed to vindicate the authority of the
Court, and a person cannot by subsequent action purge himself of such
contempt.[48] In a dictum in Ex parte Grossman,[49] Chief Justice Taft,
while holding for the Court on the main issue that the President may
pardon a criminal contempt, declared that he may not pardon a civil
contempt. In an analogous case, the Court was emphatic in a dictum that
Congress cannot require a jury trial where the contemnor has failed to
perform a positive act for the relief of private parties.[50]

Judicial Power Aids Administrative Power

Proceedings to enforce the orders of administrative agencies and
subpoenas issued by them to appear and produce testimony have become
increasingly common since the