Orrin N. Hilton was a Denver judge and attorney who participated for the defense in several famous court cases. Judge Hilton successfully defended George Pettibone

George Pettibone

George Pettibone was an Idaho miner. He was convicted of contempt of court and criminal conspiracy in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899....

 of the Western Federation of Miners

Western Federation of Miners

The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...

 when Pinkerton detective James McParland

James McParland

James McParland,There are various spellings of James McParland's name. His stenographer, Morris Friedman, wrote a book about him — as "McParland." The Pinkerton Labor Spy, New York, Wilshire Book Co., 1907). also known as James McParlan,The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor...

 accused him of conspiracy to murder former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg

Frank Steunenberg

Frank Steunenberg was the fourth Governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He is perhaps best known for his 1905 assassination by one-time union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple Creek Mine Owners' Association...

.

Judge Hilton successfully defended Vincent St. John

Vincent Saint John

Vincent Saint John was an American labor leader and a prominent Wobbly.-Biography:He was born in Newport, Kentucky and was the only son of New York native Silas St. John and Irish immigrant Marian "Mary" Cecilia Magee...

 in a murder trial in Telluride, Colorado

Telluride, Colorado

The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...

, arguing that the charges were bogus, outdated, and had been prompted by the Mine Owners' Association

Mine Owners' Association

In the United States a Mine Owners' Association, also sometimes referred to as a Mine Operators' Association or a Mine Owners' Protective Association, is the combination of individual mining companies, or groups of mining companies, into an association, established for the purpose of promoting the...

 and the Citizens' Alliance for purposes of revenge against the union organizer.

Hilton unsuccessfully defended Joe Hill

Joe Hill

Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle , and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World...

 in the appeal of a murder trial in Utah.

He was called upon in a general advisory capacity in the Massachusetts murder trial of Joseph Ettor

Joseph Ettor

Joseph James "Smiling Joe" Ettor was an Italian-American trade union organizer who, in the middle-1910s, was one of the leading public faces of the Industrial Workers of the World...

 and Arturo Giovannitti

Arturo Giovannitti

Arturo M. Giovannitti was an Italian-American union leader, socialist political activist, and poet. He is best remembered as one of the principal organizers of the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike and as a defendant in a celebrated trial ensuing from that event.-Early years:Arturo Giovannitti was born...

, organizers for the Industrial Workers of the World

Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...

 (IWW), who were charged (and acquitted) in the death of IWW striker Anna LoPizzo

Anna LoPizzo

Anna LoPizzo was a striker killed during the Lawrence textile strike , considered one of the most significant struggles in U.S. labor history...

 during the Lawrence textile strike

Lawrence textile strike

The Lawrence Textile Strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. Prompted by one mill owner's decision to lower wages when a new law shortening the workweek went into effect in January, the strike spread rapidly through the...

.

Judge Hilton played a role in the trial of miners accused of murder in Minnesota, a case which resulted in organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World . Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage...

 and Joseph Ettor

Joseph Ettor

Joseph James "Smiling Joe" Ettor was an Italian-American trade union organizer who, in the middle-1910s, was one of the leading public faces of the Industrial Workers of the World...

 being expelled from the Industrial Workers of the World

Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...

for putting the freedom of imprisoned organizers above the rights of the miners they were organizing.