Giboney v. Empire Storage & Ice Co.

When some Kansas City ice peddlers refused to join a union (defendants), the union pressured wholesale ice distributors to stop supplying non-union peddlers; every distributor but Empire (plaintiff) agreed, so union members picketed Empire's offices specifically demanding it stop selling to non-union peddlers, which (if successful) would have completed an illegal trade-restraint agreement under Missouri's anti-trust statute. Empire obtained an injunction against the picketing, and the defendants appealed, arguing the injunction violated their First Amendment right to peaceful protest.