Postma v. International Bro. of Teamsters, Etc., Local 294

• Citation: 229 F. Supp. 655
• Decision Date: 08 May 1964
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 9649.
• Parties: Peter POSTMA, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN, AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 294, Defendant, and Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States, Intervening Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

229 F. Supp. 655

Peter POSTMA, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN, AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 294, Defendant, and Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States, Intervening Defendant.

Civ. No. 9649.

United States District Court N. D. New York.

May 8, 1964.

Ungerman, Greenberg & Harris, Albany, N. Y., for plaintiff, Benjamin Ungerman, Albany, N. Y., of counsel.

Harry Pozefsky, Gloversville, N. Y., for defendant Local 294, etc.

Justin J. Mahoney, U. S. Atty., Albany, N. Y., for United States, Harland F. Leathers, Howard E. Shapiro, Charles Donnenfeld, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

BRENNAN, District Judge.

This is a declaratory judgment action in which plaintiff seeks a determination that he is not subject to the sanctions imposed by Section 504 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. § 504, which he asserts presently deprives him of his right to hold office in the defendant labor organization or to be an employee of said defendant in other than a clerical or custodial capacity.

The question arising in the present motions for summary judgment require the construction and application of the provisions of the statute above referred to in the light of the undisputed factual background summarized below.

In April 1956, the plaintiff, together with co-defendants, was brought to trial in the District Court for the Northern District of New York upon a one count indictment which charged the defendants with conspiracy to violate the provisions of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1951, generally known as the Hobbs Act. The indictment charged the defendants with conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion from named members of the trucking industry located generally in the vicinity of Albany, New York. It was alleged in the indictment that it was a part of the conspiracy that plaintiff would use his position in the defendant-labor organization to obtain property from the aforementioned truckers by the wrongful use of threatened force and fear and that he would obtain by extortion moneys belonging to said trucking companies in the amount of $10,000. by the wrongful use of threatened force and fear and the causing of work stoppages in the transportation of general merchandise until the trucking companies made such payments. The indictment was dismissed as to one of the co-defendants for failure of proof. The plaintiff, Postma, and one co-defendant were found guilty of the crime charged in the indictment by the verdict of a jury and on April 17, 1956 Postma was sentenced to be confined for four years. An appeal was taken from the judgment of conviction and same was affirmed on February 21, 1957. United States v. Postma, 2 Cir., 242 F.2d 488. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in Postma v. United States, 354 U.S. 922, 77 S.Ct. 1381, 1 L.Ed.2d 1436. The plaintiff's present status is not in dispute. He was released from confinement on March 25, 1960 and from released supervision on January 11, 1961. There is no dispute as to the duration of the five year ban, referred to in Section 504 which will expire on January 10, 1966.

On May 6, 1963, the United States Board of Parole, after a hearing, denied plaintiff's application for a Certificate of Exemption under Section 504(a) of the Act, above referred to. The decision of the Board, together with its findings and conclusions, is attached to the moving papers.

The present action is brought against Local 294 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters etc. and upon application, the Attorney General of the United States has been allowed to intervene as a defendant therein. The crux of the complaint is to the effect that plaintiff has been barred from holding union office in Local 294 by reason of the action of its officers or members who, relying upon an opinion of the Attorney General, have refused to permit the plaintiff to be a candidate for office in said Local 294 or to hold the offices or positions banned under the provisions of Section 504 which are referred to above. The plaintiff further alleges that an actual controversy exists in that plaintiff's 1956 conviction is not one of those set out in Section 504 which would prohibit him from holding the offices or positions referred to in the section. The plaintiff has moved for a summary judgment for the relief demanded. The intervening defendant has moved for a summary judgment dismissing the complaint. Local 294 makes no motion and has not appeared in any manner in the matter of the pending motions. No question is raised as to this court's jurisdiction which seems to be recognized in the decision of Serio v. Liss, 3 Cir., 300 F.2d 386.

The contentions here will be briefly summarized in order to point up the narrow problem of statutory construction which is involved in this decision. Plaintiff contends that since he was not convicted of the named violations found in Section 504 that the sanction of the five year ban therein may not be invoked against him. The defendant contends that the crime of which the plaintiff was convicted necessarily embraced extortion and is therefore included in the list of violations referred to in Section 504. In other words, the plaintiff urges that the above section is penal in its nature and must be strictly construed while the defendant contends that the section is remedial and must be broadly construed in the light of the Congressional declaration of the purpose of the statute.

There is no particular dispute concerning the language or application of the Hobbs Act. It provides that any person who obstructs or affects commerce by "extortion or attempts or conspires to do so" violates the section. The term "extortion", as used in the Act, is defined therein. The real controversy here involves the meaning and application of 29 U.S.C. § 504 which as pertinent here provides that a person who has been convicted of certain named crimes, including...