Constitutional Cartoons: Paterson v. Colorado

February 3rd, 2014

In Paterson v. Colorado (1907), the Supreme Court upheld a contempt citation against a publisher of ”certain articles and a cartoon, which, it was charged, reflected upon the motives and conduct of the supreme court of Colorado in cases still pending, and were intended to embarrass the court in the impartial administration of justice.”

Here is the cartoon at issue in Paterson. From left to right, it references Justice Goddard, Justice Campbell, Chief Justice Garber, Justice Bailey, and Justice Maxwell. They are standing next to urns containing the “Ashes of other slaughtered democrats.”

patterson-v-colorado

H/T Professor Aaron Caplan