Cite as: 512 U. S. 821 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
were Solicitor General Days, Assistant Attorney General Hunger, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, and Miguel A. Estrada.*
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.
We are called upon once again to consider the distinction between civil and criminal contempt. Specifically, we address whether contempt fines levied against a union for violations of a labor injunction are coercive civil fines, or are criminal fines that constitutionally could be imposed only through a jury trial. We conclude that the fines are criminal and, accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
I
Petitioners, the International Union, United Mine Workers of America, and United Mine Workers of America, District 28 (collectively, the union), engaged in a protracted labor dispute with the Clinchfield Coal Company and Sea "B" Mining Company (collectively, the companies) over alleged unfair labor practices. In April 1989, the companies filed suit in the Circuit Court of Russell County, Virginia, to enjoin the union from conducting unlawful strike-related activities. The trial court entered an injunction which, as later amended, prohibited the union and its members from, among other things, obstructing ingress and egress to company facilities, throwing objects at and physically threatening company employees, placing tire-damaging "jackrocks" on roads used by company vehicles, and picketing with more than a specified number of people at designated sites. The court additionally ordered the union to take all steps necessary to ensure compliance with the injunction, to place su-*Bertram R. Gelfand and Jeffrey C. Dannenberg filed a brief for the Allied Educational Foundation as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Michael E. Avakian filed a brief for the Center on National Labor Policy, Inc., as amicus curiae urging affirmance.
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