Vacating a Labor Dispute Injunction

In Cimarron Coal Corp. v. District No. 23, United Mine Wkrs. (6th Cir. 1969) the Sixth Circuit vacated an injunction on the ground the record failed to demonstrate either inability or unwillingness of state law enforcement to respond. (Id. at p. 846.) In Cimarron, union workers conducted mass picketing and obstructed employees' vehicles. (Id. at p. 845.) the employer wrote the state police and local sheriff asking for protection. (Ibid.) "The sheriff and some state police did appear and some of the employees did go in to work." (Ibid.) Cimarron found although "there was something less than a complete mobilization of law enforcement" (ibid.), there was "no failure on the part of law enforcement officials to respond, no testimony from any law enforcement official . . . pertaining to any breakdown of local or state law enforcement, and no property damage or physical assault upon anyone." (Ibid.)