Gustav Holmgren v. United States

• Decision Date: 16 May 1910
• Docket Number: No. 132,132
• Citation: 217 U.S. 509,54 L.Ed. 861,30 S.Ct. 588,19 Ann. Cas. 778
• Parties: GUSTAV HOLMGREN, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

217 U.S. 509

30 S.Ct. 588

54 L.Ed. 861

GUSTAV HOLMGREN, Petitioner,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 132.

Argued and submitted March 9, 1910.

Decided May 16, 1910.

Mr. Mashall B. Woodworth for petitioner.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 510-513 intentionally omitted] Assistant Attorney General Fowler for respondent.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 513-515 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

The petitioner, Gustav Holmgren, was convicted and sentenced in the district court of the United States for the northern district of California of the crime of false swearing in naturalization proceedings, in violation of § 5395 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3654). The judgment was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals. 84 C. C. A. 301, 156 Fed. 439. The conviction was upon the third count of the indictment, which charged that in a naturalization proceeding, upon the application of one Frank Werta for admission to citizenship in the United States, pending September 21, 1903, in the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco. California, a court of record of the state of California, with common-law jurisdiction, a seal, and a clerk, the petitioner swore falsely in making the material statement, under oath, that he, the said Gustav Holmgren, had been acquainted with the said Frank Werta in the United States during the five years immediately preceding the application for naturalization, whereas, in truth and in fact, as he then well knew, the said Werta had not resided continuously in the United States for a period of five years, and the said Holmgren had not known the said Werta for more than four years prior to said application.

The principal question in the case is whether, under § 5395, United States Revised Statutes, a conviction can be had in a Federal court for a false oath in naturalization proceedings had in a state court.

Preliminarily to a consideration of the proper construction of this section, we may notice the contention of the petitioner that there is no constitutional power in Congress to confer jurisdiction upon the courts of a state in naturalization proceedings, involving admission to citizenship in the United States.

Article 1, § 8, clause 4, of the Constitution of the United States, vests in Congress the power to establish an uniform rule of naturalization. Acting under this constitutional authority, from the earliest history of the government, Congress has passed acts regulating the naturalization of aliens, admitting them to citizenship in the United States, and has authorized such proceedings in the state as well as Federal courts. The validity of such proceedings by virtue of the power conferred by acts of Congress has been recognized from an early day. Campbell v. Gordon, 6 Cranch, 176, 182, 3 L. ed. 190, 192; Stark v. Chesapeake Ins. Co. 7 Cranch, 420, 3 L. ed. 391. The naturalization acts of the United States, from the first one, in 1790 [1 Stat. at L. 103, chap. 3], have conferred authority upon state courts to admit aliens to citizenship. Van Dyne, Naturalization, p. 11, and the following.

It is undoubtedly true that the right to create courts for the states does not exist in Congress. The Constitution provides (art. 3, § 1) that the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. But it does not follow that Congress may not constitutionally authorize the magistrates or courts of a state to enforce a statute providing for a uniform system of naturalization, and defining certain proceedings which, when complied with, shall make the applicant a citizen of the United States. This Congress had undertaken to do in making provision for the naturalization of aliens to become citizens of the United States in a certain class of state courts, those of record having common-law jurisdiction, a clerk and a seal. U. S. Rev. Stat. § 2165, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1329, since superseded by the act of June 29, 1906 (34 Stat. at L. 596, chap. 3592, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1909, p. 97).

The question is not here presented whether the states can be required to enforce such naturalization laws against their consent, for it appears that the Constitution of the state of California, in § 5, article 6, and the statutes in § 76 of the Code of Civil Procedure of that state, grant to the courts the power of naturalization, and the right to issue papers therefor. Unless prohibited by state legislation, state courts and magistrates may exercise the powers conferred by Congress under such laws. Re Stephens, 4 Gray, 559. The indictment charges that Werta made application as an alien to be admitted to citizenship in the United States, the proceeding was had, and false oath charged was taken, under authority of the statutes of the United States. The present proceeding was to prosecute the petitioner for alleged false swearing un- der an oath administered under authority of a law of the United States. Where such is the case, we think the Congress of the United States may constitutionally provide for the punishment of such offenses, whether the oath is taken before a Federal court or officer, or before a state court or officer, acting under authority derived from the act of Congress. See Re Loney, 134 U. S. 372, 374, 33 L . ed. 949, 950, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 584.

We come, then, to the question whether the section under which the proceeding was had authorizes a prosecution for perjury when committed in naturalization proceedings in other than Federal courts. As we have seen, the statutes of the United States confer jurisdiction to admit aliens to citizenship in the United States, not only on Federal courts, but also upon certain state courts, and § 5395 of the Revised Statutes provides:

'In all cases where any oath or affidavit is made or taken under or by virtue of any law relating to the naturalization of aliens, or in any proceedings under such laws, any person taking or making such oath or affidavit, who knowingly swears falsely, shall be punished by imprisonment not more than five years nor less than one year, and by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars.'

The terms of this section are certainly broad enough to include an oath or affidavit, whether taken in a Federal court or a state court, for the requirement of the statute is that such oath or affidavit be made or taken under or by virtue of any law relating to naturalization of aliens, or in any proceedings under any such laws. The false oath in question was taken under and by virtue of the Federal statutes regulating naturalization, and in a proceeding authorized under such laws, although in a state court.

It is contended, however, that the history of this section (5395), and the effect of the revision of the laws embodied in the Revised Statutes of 1873, makes it applicable only to false swearing in the courts of the United States in such a naturalization proceedings as may be therein instituted. As car- mried into the Revised Statutes, this section was taken from § 1 of the act of July 14, 1870, being an act to amend the naturalization laws and to punish crimes against the same, etc. 16 Stat. at L. 254, chap. 254. Section 4 of that act was as follows:

'And be it further enacted, that the provisions of this act shall apply to all proceedings had or taken, or attempted to be had or taken, before any court in which any proceeding for naturalization shall be commenced, had, or taken, or attempted to be commenced; and the courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of all offenses under the provisions of this act, in or before whatsoever court or tribunal the same shall have been committed.'

In codifying the statutes, the 1st section of the act of July 14, 1870, was made § 5395 of the Revised Statutes, and is part of title 70, chapter 4, 'Crimes against Justice.' Sections 2 and 3 of the act were made §§ 5424 to 5428 of the Revised Statutes, and part of chapter 5, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, pp. 3668-3670, entitled 'Crimes against the Operations of the Government.' Section 4 of the act of July 14, 1870, was made § 5429 of the Revised Statutes, and reads as follows:

'The provisions of the five preceding sections shall apply to all proceedings had or taken, or attempted to be had or taken, before any court in which any proceeding for naturalization may be commenced or attempted to be commenced.'

The argument is that, inasmuch as § 5395 is not one of the 'five preceding sections,' it is to be inferred that Congress intended to give jurisdiction to the Federal courts for violation of that section only in naturalization proceedings in the Federal courts, and not to include false swearing in naturalization proceedings before any court, which would include a state court. But we cannot agree to this contention. The Revised Statutes are the result of the revision and codification of the laws under authority of an act of Congress, whose purpose it was not to create a new system of laws, but to codify and arrange former laws, omitting redundant or ob- solete enactments, and making such amendments and changes as were necessary to correct contradictions, supply omissions, and amend imperfections in the original text. 14 Stat. at L. 75, chap. 140.

The courts will not infer that Congress, in revising and consolidating the laws, intended to change their policy, in the absence of a clear expression of such purpose. United States v. Ryder, 110 U. S. 729, 740, 28 L. ed. 308, 31 2, 4 Sup. Ct. Rep. 196. No reason is suggested for...