Ex parte Savin
Citation | 131 U.S. 267,9 S.Ct. 699,33 L.Ed. 150 |
Parties | Ex parte SAVIN |
Decision Date | 13 May 1889 |
Court | United States Supreme Court |
The appellant, claiming to be illegally imprisoned under color of the authority of the United States, presented to the circuit court of the United States for the Southern district of California his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The prayer for the writ was denied, and the petition was dismissed. This appeal brings up the judgment of the court for review.
It appears that on the 27th day of February, 1889, the district attorney stated to the district court of the United States for the Southern district of California that he had been informed that one of the witnesses for the government in the case of U. S. v. Heppolyte Goujon, then pending in that court, had been corruptly approached, and an effort made to intimidate him from testifying. The witness alleged to have been thus approached was on the same day examined under oath in open court, in the presence of the respondent, who was in the custody of the marshal. The evidence was taken down by a stenographer, designated by the court and acting under oath. As the result of that examination an order was made that the appellant be cited to show cause before the district court, at a specified hour, on the next day, why he should not be adjudged guilty of contempt. On the succeeding day, the citation having been duly served, the matter came on for hearing, the respondent being present in court, and represented by counsel. He demanded of the prosecution 'service of interrogatories.' That demand was denied by the court, and to that ruling he excepted. Witnesses having been examined on behalf of the government, and the respondent having testified in his own behalf, (but to what effect does not appear from the record,) and the matter having been submitted, the district court, upon the testimony taken down by the stenographer, entered the following order and judgment:
'Ross, District Judge.
'February 28, 1889.'
Pursuant to that order, and in conformity with a warrant, reciting that he had been convicted of a contempt of said court, the respondent was committed to jail. In his petition he claimed that the district court had no jurisdiction or legal authority to try and sentence him in the manner and form above stated, for these reasons: (1) The matters set out in the judgment do not constitute a contempt of court provided for by section 725 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. (2) The proceedings were insufficient to give the court jurisdiction to render judgment. (3) The judgment is not based or founded upon any proceedings in due course of law, and is, therefore, void.
J. A. Anderson, for appellant.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 270-272 intentionally omitted] Sol. Gen. Jenks and Geo. J. Denis, Dist. Atty., for respondent.
Mr. Justice HARLAN, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
The power of the courts of the United States to punish contempts of their authority is not merely incidental to their general power to exercise judicial functions, but, as was said in Ex parte Terry, 128 U. S. 289, 304, ante, 77, where this subject was considered, is expressly recognized and the cases in which it may be exercised are defined, by acts of congress. The judiciary act of September 24, 1789, (chapter 20 § 17,) invests them with 'power to punish by fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of said courts, all contempts of authority in any cause or hearing before the same.' 1 St. 83. By an act of congress of March 2, 1831, c. 99, 'declaratory of the law concerning contempts of court,' (4 St. 487,) it was enacted: Section 725, Rev. St. tit. 'The Judiciary,' is in these words: 'The said courts shall have power to impose and administer all necessary oaths, and to punish, by fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the court, contempts of their authority: provided, that such power to punish contempts...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Cologne v. Westfarms Associates
...of contempt, had to be proved by sufficient competent evidence, including testimony under oath. See Savin, Petitioner, 131 U.S. 267, 277, 9 S.Ct. 699, 701, 33 L.Ed. 150 (1889); Potter v. Board of Selectmen, 174 Conn. 195, 197, 384 A.2d 369 (1978); Masti-Kure Products Co. v. Appel, 161 Conn.......
-
Ex parte Quirin. Ex parte Haupt. Ex parte Kerling. Ex parte Burger. Ex parte Heinck. Ex parte Thiel. Ex parte Neubauer. United States ex rel. Quirin v. Cox, Brig. Gen., U.S.a., Provost Marshal of the Military District of Washington, and 6 other cases. Nos. — 8212 1942
...be tried without a jury at common law. Ex parte Terry, 128 U.S. 289, 302, 304, 9 S.Ct. 77, 79, 32 L.Ed. 405; Savin, Petitioner, 131 U.S. 267, 277, 9 S.Ct. 699, 701, 33 L.Ed. 150; In re Debs, 158 U.S. 564, 594—596, 15 S.Ct. 900, 910, 911, 39 L.Ed. 1092; United States v. Shipp, 203 U.S. 563, ......
-
Bridges v. State
...see Ex parte Robinson, 19 Wall. 505, 22 L.Ed. 205; Ex parte Terry, 128 U.S. 289, 9 S.Ct. 77, 32 L.Ed. 405; Ex parte Savin, Petitioner, 131 U.S. 267, 9 S.Ct. 699, 33 L.Ed. 150.1 As in the exercise of all power, it was abused. Some English judges extended their authority for checking interfer......
-
Ex Parte Wolters
...public authority." Numerous instances are given and authorities cited to support this proposition, among others Savin, Petitioner, 131 U. S. 267, 9 Sup. Ct. 699, 33 L. Ed. 150, Cuddy, Petitioner, 131 U. S. 280, 9 Sup. Ct. 703, 33 L. Ed. 154, and In re Brule (D. C.) 71 Fed. 943. It has been ......
-
Summary Contempt Power in the Military: A Proposal to Amend Article 48, UCMJ
...Crim. App. 1972). 34. See LAFAVE & SCOTT, supra note 14, at 45; Ex parte Terry, 128 U.S. 289, 313 (1888). See also Ex parte Savin, 131 U.S. 267, 277 (1889); Cooke v. United States, 267 U.S. 517, 534-38 (1925); Bloom v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194, 198-99 35. In re Barnes, 691 N.E.2d 1225, 12......