People v. Parker
| Decision Date | 15 September 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 29894.,29894. |
| Citation | 397 Ill. 305,74 N.E.2d 523 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. PARKER. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; Harold G. Ward, Judge.
Harrison Parker was adjudged guilty of criminal contempt, and he brings error.
Judgment affirmed.
Harrison Parker, pro se.
George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and William J. Tuohy, State's Atty., of Chicago (Edward E. Wilson, John T. Gallagher, and Melvin S. Rembe, all of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
The defendant, Harrison Parker, was adjudged guilty of criminal contempt in the criminal court of Cook county. He was sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for six months. This writ of error is brought on the ground, among others, that the judgment infringes defendant's constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
The information charged Parker with composing, signing and mailing a letter to the foreman of the Cook county grand jury, which had just been convened. The letter was set out haec verba in the information. Motions for change of venue and to quash the information were overruled. In his amended answer Parker admitted the signing of the letter, but asserts that he signed it only in his capacity as an officer of the Puritan Church. He denied that the letter was contemptuous and insisted that it was composed by the Puritan Church and deposited in the mails in the furtherance of church duties, and in the exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedomof religion. Any intention of showing contempt of court is disavowed, and it is pointed out that the letter contained no vicious and inflammatory language.
In substance the letter charged that the Tribune company and a certain political machine had connived together to steal one one hundred million dollars from Cook county, in the form of unpaid taxes and penalties. It further charged that stockholders in the company had received huge sums of money in the form of dividends, on which no taxes had been assessed or paid. The letter concluded with an offer to appear before the grand jury and produce evidence in support of the accusations.
The defendant has been previously convicted of contempt of court for addressing voluntary communications to the grand jury of Cook county. That conviction was sustained by this court. People v. Parker, 374 Ill. 524, 30 N.E.2d 11. The subject matter of the letter in this case is strikingly similar to the subject matter of the letters addressed to the grand jury and considered in the former case. Accusations of stealing one hundred million dollars by tax evasion are directed toward the same publishing company, its stockholders, and certain public officials. The principal difference is that the letter in this case is not couched in the same vicious and inflammatory language that characterized the previous communications to the grand jury. By tempering the tone of his accusations, Parker seeks to escape the rule which forbids communicating with the grand jury, except through recognized lawful channels. This he cannot do. In our former decision we quoted with approval the language of Mr. Justice Field and adopted the rule laid down by him. What we said there applies with equal force to this case. The obvious purpose of communicating with the foreman of the grand jury was to incite the grand jury into action against those accused in the letter. The grand jury was invited to call for the production of evidence which the communication stated was in the possession of the Puritan Church. This was an unofficial volunteer communication to the grand jury, inviting them to start, on their own authority, a prosecution against those accused in the communication. The sending of a communication, such as that set out...
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In re New Haven Grand Jury
...or to communicate directly with it in writing than does a target or potential target of a grand jury.8See People v. Parker, 397 Ill. 305, 74 N.E.2d 523, 525-526 (1947) (per curiam) (rejecting First Amendment challenge to a state court criminal contempt conviction for mailing letter to grand......
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