Opinion of the Court

398 U.S.

Nothing in the record here shows that the specific acts complained of have not been repeated or gives any assurance that they will not be repeated in the future. Cf. United States v. Concentrated Phosphate Export Assn., 393 U. S. 199, 203 (1968); Wirtz v. Local 153, Glass Blowers Assn., 389 U. S. 463, 474 475 (1968).

The Board, established by Congress with primary responsibility for the protection of the public interest in this area, see NLRB v. J. H. Rutter-Rex Mfg. Co., 396 U. S. 258 (1969), has determined that the company engaged in illegal activities and that a remedial order is called for. Under these circumstances, the employees cannot be denied the protection of the order (with the possible sanction of contempt proceedings for violations) in the absence of a decision on the merits. "[I]f the Board's order is justified, it is entitled to have it enforced as a means of insuring that in future elections the conduct may not be repeated." NLRB v. Marsh Supermarkets, Inc., supra, at 111.

In this Court, the company essentially admits that the judgment below cannot be "based on mootness in its classical sense" and instead attempts to support it on other grounds. Thus, the company says and we agree— that it is the courts of appeals that are charged with the primary and usual responsibility for granting or denying enforcement of Board orders. Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U. S. 474 (1951). From this proposition and the fact that the Court of Appeals had before it the entire record in the case, the company urges that the decision below "should be construed as a determination, in the exercise of the discretion vested in the Court by Section 10 (e) of the Act, that on the basis of all of the circumstances, including the subsequent certification, enforcement was inappropriate."

We need not pause to consider whether such a determination would have been proper on the facts of this

25

Opinion of the Court.

case. The simple answer is that the Court of Appeals did not pass upon the merits of the Board's petition for enforcement. While the company is, of course, free to argue on remand either that there was no violation, or that if there was it was so marginal as not to justify judicial enforcement, or both, these questions are for the Court of Appeals in the first instance. We will not pass on how that court might have regarded the case had it not erroneously concluded that the election and certification mooted the proceedings.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals dismissing the petition for enforcement is reversed and the case is remanded for consideration of the petition on its merits.

It is so ordered.

Opinion of the Court

398 U.S.

DICKEY v. FLORIDA

CERTIORARI TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, FIRST DISTRICT

No. 728. Argued January 21, 1970-Decided May 25, 1970

During a period of over seven years while petitioner was in federal custody and available to the State of Florida, which had issued a warrant for his arrest on a state criminal charge, petitioner made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to secure a prompt trial in the state court. During that period two witnesses died, another potential defense witness allegedly became unavailable, and possibly relevant police records were lost or destroyed. Thereafter the State filed an information against petitioner and, following denial of petitioner's motion to quash on the ground that he had been denied his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment as made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, petitioner was convicted and the appellate court affirmed. Held: On the record in this case where petitioner was at all times available to the State and there was no valid excuse for the prejudicial delay, the judgment against petitioner must be vacated by the trial court. Pp. 36-38.

215 So. 2d 772, reversed and remanded.

John D. Buchanan, Jr., argued the cause and filed a brief for petitioner.

George R. Georgieff, Assistant Attorney General of Florida, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Earl Faircloth, Attorney General.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.

We granted the writ in this case to consider the petitioner's claim that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial: he was tried in 1968 on charges of alleged criminal acts committed in 1960.

30

Opinion of the Court

Prior to the commencement of his jury trial in 1968 for armed robbery petitioner, Robert Dickey, moved to quash the information against him, alleging, inter alia, that if he were tried he would be denied his right to a speedy trial, as guaranteed by § 11 of the Declaration of Rights of the Florida Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The motion was denied. Dickey was subsequently tried and convicted. He appealed to the Florida District Court of Appeal, First District, alleging error in the trial court's denial of his motion to quash. The Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction in a brief order. 215 So. 2d 772 (1968). We granted Dickey leave to proceed in forma pauperis and granted his petition for a writ of certiorari. 396 U. S. 816 (1969). We reverse.

I

At about 2 o'clock in the morning of June 28, 1960, Clark's Motor Court in Quincy, Gadsden County, Florida, was robbed by a lone armed robber. The victim and only eyewitness was Mrs. Ralph Clark. She immediately reported the crime to Deputy County Sheriff Martin and gave a description of the robber to him; this description was routinely recorded for later reference. Shortly thereafter, Dickey was taken into custody on federal bank robbery charges and placed in the

1 The Declaration of Rights, Florida Constitution, reads in pertinent part:

Section 11. Rights of accused; speedy trial; etc.

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury, in the county where the crime was committed . . . .”

2 The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in pertinent part:

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial. . . ."

Apparently

Jackson County Jail, Marianna, Florida. the description Mrs. Clark had given Deputy Martin was sufficiently similar to Dickey that on July 1, 1960, he showed Mrs. Clark a picture of Dickey. Mrs. Clark and Deputy Martin then went to the Jackson County Jail where she identified Dickey as her assailant. Later that day Deputy Martin secured an arrest warrant charging Dickey with armed robbery.3

From July 1, 1960, to September 2, 1960, Dickey remained in the Jackson County Jail. The Gadsden County Sheriff's Office knew of his whereabouts but made no effort to serve the warrant or gain custody for the purpose of trial. On September 2, 1960, Dickey, having been convicted on federal charges, was removed from Florida, first to Leavenworth and then Alcatraz. On the same day, the Gadsden County warrant was sent to the Chief United States Marshal, Atlanta, Georgia, and a formal detainer was lodged against Dickey.

In 1962 Dickey filed in the Gadsden County Circuit Court a petition styled "writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum" naming the State Attorney for Gadsden County as respondent and asking that he be required to show cause why he should not be ordered to either take the steps necessary to obtain Dickey's presence in Florida for trial or withdraw the detainer for failure to provide Dickey with a speedy trial, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. The Circuit Court, in an order dated December 1, 1962, denied the petition on several grounds: first, that Dickey's unavailability for trial in Florida was the result of his voluntary commission of a federal crime, the natural consequence of which was incarceration in a federal penal institution; second, that

3 Under Florida law this step tolled the statute of limitations. See Rosengarten v. State, 171 So. 2d 591 (Dist. Ct. App. Fla. 1965); Dubbs v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 799, 130 So. 36 (1930); State v. Emanuel, 153 So. 2d 839 (Dist. Ct. App. Fla. 1963).