Robert H. Jackson

“ All that is before us is the question whether we will hold abstractly that this provision is an illegal one to include in a cease and desist order of the Labor Board or an enforcement order of the Court.
Whether it is wise that an order attempt to define its own effect on others than parties to the action when the law has already done so is not for us to say. We cannot say that 'successors and assigns' as well as 'officers and agents' may not under some circumstances be among those reached by the order within the scope of Rule 65 and hence cannot say that it is not a permissible provision. ”

“ The courts, nevertheless, may not grant an enforcement order or injunction so broad as to make punishable the conduct of persons who act independently and whose rights have not been adjudged according to law. ”

“ An injunction is a continuing threat to those named as subject to it, of the pains of contempt proceedings if they disobey its provisions. The opinion of the Court recognizes that the present injunction running against the employer's 'successors and assigns' purports to include within its sweep some who are not subject to its command and is thus a threat to those over whom the Court has no authority. The opinion also admits that the persons who are bound by the present decree would be as effectively bound if the decree were to omit the words 'successors and assigns.' See Walling v. ”