James Coffey v. County of Harlan
| Decision Date | 25 February 1907 |
| Docket Number | No. 177,177 |
| Citation | 204 U.S. 659,27 S.Ct. 305,51 L.Ed. 666 |
| Parties | JAMES COFFEY, Plff. in Err., v. COUNTY OF HARLAN |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. C. C. Flansburg and R. O. Williams for plaintiff in error.
[Argument of Counsel from page 559 intentionally omitted] Messrs. J. W. Deweese, W. A. Myers, and W. S. Morlan for defendant in error.
[Argument of Counsel from page 660 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Moody delivered the opinion of the court:
The plaintiff in error, a citizen of Kansas, brought an action of ejectment against the defendant in error, a citizen of Nebraska, in the circuit court for the district of Nebraska, where there was judgment for the defendant, which is brought here by writ of error on a constitutional question. The land sought to be recovered was once the property of Ezra S. Whitney, through whom both parties claim title,—the plaintiff, through a deed of the land executed and delivered by Whitney, on November 30, 1898; the defendant, under a sale of the land on execution in pursuance of a levy duly made on April 12, 1898. The defendant's paper title is therefore the earlier one and must prevail if the sale upon execution was valid. The validity of this sale is the only question in the case.
The execution issued on a judgment in a criminal case, in which, by information, Whitney was charged with the embezzlement, while county treasurer of Harlan county, in the state of Nebraska, of $11,190 of the public money in his possession by virtue of his office. Upon trial by jury Whitney was found guilty as charged and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of years, and to 'pay a fine in one sum of $22,390,' which was double the amount of the embezzlement found by the jury. On appeal the conviction was amrmed by the supreme court of Nebraska. Whitney v. State, 53 Neb. 287, 73 N. W. 696. The sentence awarded was that prescribed by § 124 of the Nebraska Criminal Code, which provides that a public officer who embezzles the public money 'shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than twentyone years, according to the magnitude of the embezzlement, and also pay a fine equal to double the amount of money or other property so embezzled as aforesaid, which fine shall operate as a judgment at law on all of the estate of the party so convicted and sentenced, and shall be enforced to collection by execution or other process for the use only of the party or parties whose money or other funds, property, bonds, or securities, assets or effects of any kind as aforesaid has been so embezzled.' Neb. Comp. Stat. 1903, p. 1942.
The proceedings which ended in the sale on execution under which the defendant claims title were in conformity with the Constitution and laws of Nebraska, and the sheriff's deed vested title in the defendant. Everson v. State, 66 Neb. 154, 92 N. W. 137. It is within the power of the state to enact laws creating and defining crimes against its sovereignty, regulating the procedure in the trial of those who are charged with committing them, and prescribing the character of the sentence which shall be awarded against those who have been found guilty. In these respects the state is supreme and its power absolute, and without any limits other than those prescribed by the Constitution of the United States. The exercise of the power of the state in this field cannot be drawn in question in this court or elsewhere than in its own courts, except for the purpose of restraining it within the limits thus established. One of the limitations upon the power of the state, imposed by the 14th Amendment, is that the state shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The plaintiff contends that the sentence awarded against Whitney violated this prohibition, in that Whitney had no opportunity to be heard upon and defend against that part of the sentence which imposed a fine and authorized a judgment against his estate for its collection. The plaintiff therefore insists that the sale on execution of Whitney's land was bad, because the execution issued upon a judgment which was void. The short and conclusive answer to the whole contention is, that it is not true in fact. Whitney was given an opportunity to...
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