Russell C. House Transfer & Stor. Co. v. United States, 13400.

• Decision Date: 25 May 1951
• Docket Number: No. 13400.,13400.
• Citation: 189 F.2d 349
• Parties: RUSSELL C. HOUSE TRANSFER & STORAGE CO., Inc. v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

189 F.2d 349 (1951)

RUSSELL C. HOUSE TRANSFER & STORAGE CO., Inc. v. UNITED STATES.

No. 13400.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

May 25, 1951.

James L. Flemister, R. J. Reynolds, Jr., Atlanta, Ga., for appellant.

Gerald E. Jessup, Atty., Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D. C., J. Ellis Mundy, U. S. Atty., Harvey H. Tisinger, Asst. U. S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.

Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and HOLMES and BORAH, Circuit Judges.

BORAH, Circuit Judge.

This appeal is from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia holding appellant, Russell C. House Transfer & Storage, Inc., to be guilty of criminal contempt by reason of its willful violation of a permanent injunction of the court entered on May 22, 1941, and imposing on appellant a fine of $250.

The proceedings which give rise to the present controversy may be summarized as follows: In a complaint filed on March 31, 1941, the Interstate Commerce Commission alleged that appellant was engaged in the transportation of property in interstate commerce, for compensation, as a common carrier by motor vehicle subject to the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.; that appellant had violated Part II of the Act by transporting household goods between certain named cities and points not authorized by a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission; and that, unless restrained, appellant would continue to transport property between the cities and points described and between other cities and points in the United States without warrant or authority of law and without any authorization by the Commission.

On May 22, 1941, a consent judgment was entered by the Court in which it was decreed that appellant "be perpetually enjoined and restrained from * * * (1) transporting property by motor vehicle in interstate or foreign commerce upon any public highway for the general public, for compensation, whether over regular or irregular routes, unless and until such time, if at all, as (a) there is in force with respect to the said Russell C. House Transfer & Storage, Inc., a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States authorizing such operations."

On March 29, 1950, the United States filed a proceeding in criminal contempt alleging that with full knowledge of the permanent injunction and in defiance of its terms, appellant transported four shipments of property in interstate commerce without there being in force with respect to such motor carrier a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission authorizing such operations.¹ The gravamen of the charge is not that appellant transported property between cities and points not authorized, which was the factual basis upon which the decree of 1941 was bottomed, but that the property transported was not "household goods" within the meaning of that term as used in its certificates of public convenience and necessity. The case was tried before the court upon a rule to show cause and the appellant was convicted on findings that the property transported was not "household goods;" and that the shipments were knowingly and willfully transported in violation of the Act and in violation of the injunction. This appeal followed.

The stipulated facts reveal that in June and July, 1949, app...