Ex parte Gordon

• Decision Date: 01 December 1861
• Citation: 17 L.Ed. 134,1 Black 503,66 U.S. 503
• Parties: EX PARTE GORDON
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

66 U.S. 503

1 Black 503

17 L.Ed. 134

EX PARTE GORDON.

December Term, 1861

This was an application by Nathaniel Gordon for an alternative writ of prohibition to the judges of the Circuit Court of the United States for the southern district of New York, and its officers, and the United States marshal, to restrain them from further proceeding in a case wherein the said Gordon had been found guilty of piracy and sentenced to death; and also for a writ of certiorari commanding the judges to send up the papers, process, and all proceedings in the said cause, to this court. The facts averred by the petitioner are substantially stated by the Chief Justice in the opinion of the court.

Mr. Dean, of New York, presented the petition and moved for an alternative writ of prohibition, and also for a certiorari to bring up the proceedings.

Mr. Chief Justice TANEY.

Nathaniel Gordon has filed a petition to this court, stating that he has been indicted and convicted in the Circuit Court of the United States for the southern district of New York of the crime of piracy, under the act of Congress prohibiting the African slave trade, and sentenced to death by the court, and a warrant issued and placed in the hands of the marshal of that district, commanding him to carry the sentence into execution on the seventh day of this month; that there were irregularities and errors in the proceedings against him, and that he had moved for an arrest of judgment in the Circuit Court, which motion had been overruled; and had also moved to have the case certified to this court as upon a division of opinion, in order that the proceedings against him might be revised here, but this application had also been refused; that the president of the United States has granted him a respite of the sentence until the twenty-first day of this month, and he fears that it will be carried into execution on that day unless it is prevented by the interposition of this court; and, upon this statement, he, by his counsel, moves for an alternative writ of prohibition directed to the Circuit Court and its officers; and also for a certiorari, returnable at the same time, directing the Circuit Court to return the papers, process, and proceedings in the case.

This motion cannot be sustained. It appears by the statement in the petition, that the party has been tried, and found guilty of the crime of piracy, and sentenced to be executed by a court of the United States, possessing competent jurisdiction, and...