Ex parte Parks
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | BRADLEY |
| Citation | 93 U.S. 18,23 L.Ed. 787 |
| Parties | EX PARTE PARKS |
| Decision Date | 01 October 1876 |
MR. WILLIAM GREEN presented the petition of Richard S. Parks praying for a writ of habeas corpus.
The petition is set forth, and the facts in the case are stated, in the opinion of the court.
MR. JUSTICE BRADLEY delivered the opinion of the court.
The petitioner for habeas corpus in this case was convicted of forgery in the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Virginia, and is in custody by virtue of a commitment under sentence of imprisonment in the penitentiary for said offence. Complaining that his conviction was illegal, by reason that the act for which he was convicted was not a crime against the laws of the United States, he applied to the circuit judge for a habeas corpus, and, after a hearing thereon, was remanded into custody. Not being satisfied with this decision, he now applies to this court for a habeas corpus. His petition is as follows:——
'To the Honorable Morrison R. Waite, Chief Justice, and his Associates, Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States:
'The petition of Richard S. Parks respectfully represents, that your petitioner is illegally confined in jail, at Harrisonburg, in Virginia,
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being in the custody of A. S. Gray, as Marshal of the United States for the Western District of Virginia, by virtue of a commitment under an illegal sentence of the District Court of the United States for the said district, the same (sentence) being void and in law a nullity, for want of jurisdiction in the said court to pass it upon and against your petitioner, which said sentence was pronounced in a case of the United States against your petitioner, a transcript of the record whereof is herewith presented. That your petitioner heretofore made application to the honorable judge of Circuit Court of the United States for the said district, that he would order the discharge of your petitioner upon a writ of habeas corpus sued out for that object; but his honor, the said judge of the Circuit Court, instead of discharging, remanded him to the custody of the said marshal, as will appear from a transcript of his order in the said matter, which transcript is likewise herewith presented. And that your petitioner therefore prays at your honors' hands the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus, to be directed to the said marshal, commanding him to have before your honors, at a day and place to be named therein, the body of your petitioner, together with the cause of his capture and detention, to undergo and receive whatsoever your honors shall then and there consider of him in that behalf.
'And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
'RICH'D S. PARKS.'
The transcript of the record of conviction, which accompanies the petition, shows that the petitioner was indicted for forging the signature of C. Douglass Gray, register in bankruptcy, to the following receipt:——
'HARRISONBURG, July 30, 1872.
'Received of J. D. Martin, by R. S. Parks, his attorney, the application, with necessary papers, for adjudication in bankruptcy of said Martin; also, $50, amount of required deposit.
'C. DOUGLASS GRAY, Register.'
One count of the indictment charges that Parks committed the forgery for the purpose of authenticating the commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy in the case of J. D. Martin. Another count alleges the purpose to have been to authenticate a proceeding in the said case; namely, the filing of the paper with the register. There was a third count, which did not state the purpose.
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The petitioner contends that the forging of this receipt is not a crime by any act of Congress, and that, as the courts of the United States have no common-law jurisdiction of crimes, the District Court had no jurisdiction to try him for the offence. The indictment is founded on the forty-sixth section of the Bankrupt Act (re-enacted and made more general in sect. 5419 of the Revised Statutes), which declares, that 'if any person shall forge the signature of a judge, register, or other officer of the court, or knowingly concur in using any such forged or counterfeited signature . . . for the purpose of authenticating any proceeding or document, . . . such person shall be guilty of felony,' &c. The petitioner insists that the paper whose forgery is charged is not a document which could be used in evidence in any proceeding, by reason of its being authenticated by the official signature of the register. This proposition may be questioned. But suppose it were true, the receipt could be used in...
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Sunal v. Large Alexander v. United States Kulick, Nos. 535
...which had no jurisdiction either over the person or of the offense. See Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 203, 7 L.Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 23, 23 L.Ed. 787. But the writ is discretionary and may not issue even though if an opportunity were allowed such want of jurisdiction might be......
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Swift Co v. United States, No. 181
...parties. And even gross error in the decree would not render it void. Compare Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 7 L. Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U. S. 18, 23 L. Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U. S. 18, 23 L. Ed. 787; In re Coy, 127 U. S. 731, 756, 8 S. Ct. 1263, 32 L. Ed. 274. Seventh. It is conte......
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Fay v. Noia, No. 84
...authority imposed, could be redressed by writ of habeas corpus. See also Ex parte Wells, 18 How. 307, 15 L.Ed. 421; Ex parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 21, 23 L.Ed. 787. The principle was clearly stated a few years after the Lange decision by Mr. Justice Bradley, writing for the Court in Ex parte S......
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Dukette v. Perrin, Civ. No. 83-116-D.
...600, 15 S.Ct. 900, 912, 39 L.Ed. 1092 (1895); Ex Parte Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, 654, 4 S.Ct. 152, 153, 28 L.Ed. 274 (1884); Ex Parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 22, 23 L.Ed. 787 (1876); DeBenedictis v. Wainwright, 674 F.2d 841, 842 (11th Cir.1982), the claim of insufficiency is addressed first.. Ham......
-
Sunal v. Large Alexander v. United States Kulick, Nos. 535
...which had no jurisdiction either over the person or of the offense. See Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 203, 7 L.Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 23, 23 L.Ed. 787. But the writ is discretionary and may not issue even though if an opportunity were allowed such want of jurisdiction might be......
-
Swift Co v. United States, No. 181
...parties. And even gross error in the decree would not render it void. Compare Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 7 L. Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U. S. 18, 23 L. Ed. 650; Ex parte Parks, 93 U. S. 18, 23 L. Ed. 787; In re Coy, 127 U. S. 731, 756, 8 S. Ct. 1263, 32 L. Ed. 274. Seventh. It is conte......
-
Fay v. Noia, No. 84
...authority imposed, could be redressed by writ of habeas corpus. See also Ex parte Wells, 18 How. 307, 15 L.Ed. 421; Ex parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 21, 23 L.Ed. 787. The principle was clearly stated a few years after the Lange decision by Mr. Justice Bradley, writing for the Court in Ex parte S......
-
Dukette v. Perrin, Civ. No. 83-116-D.
...600, 15 S.Ct. 900, 912, 39 L.Ed. 1092 (1895); Ex Parte Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, 654, 4 S.Ct. 152, 153, 28 L.Ed. 274 (1884); Ex Parte Parks, 93 U.S. 18, 22, 23 L.Ed. 787 (1876); DeBenedictis v. Wainwright, 674 F.2d 841, 842 (11th Cir.1982), the claim of insufficiency is addressed first.. Ham......