People v. Turner
| Citation | 55 Ill. 280,8 Am.Rep. 645,1870 WL 6415 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ex rel.MICHAEL O'CONNELLv.ROBERT TURNER, Supermtendent of the Reform School of the City of Chicago. |
| Decision Date | 30 September 1870 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Illinois |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Application for a writ of habeas corpus.
The opinion of the court sets forth the ground of the application.
Messrs. NISSEN & BARNUM, Mr. M. F. HEENAN and Mr. WM. F. BUTLER, for the relator. Mr. M. F. TULEY and Mr. I. N. STILES, for the respondent.
By the order of this court, the writ of habeas corpus was issued, commanding Robert Turner, superintendent of the reform school of the city of Chicago, to show cause for the caption and detention of Daniel O'Connell.
The petition of Michael O'Connell represents, that he is the father of Daniel, a boy between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and that he is restrained of his liberty contrary to the law, without conviction of crime, and under color of the following mittimus:
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¦STATE OF ILLINOIS,¦)¦ ¦(¦Superior Court of Cook county.¦
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¦ ¦)¦ss.¦(¦ ¦
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¦COOK COUNTY. ¦)¦ ¦(¦Of the Sept. Term, A. D. 1870.¦
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The People of the State of Illinois to the Superintendent of the Reform School of the city of Chicago: Greeting:
We do hereby command you, that you take the body of Daniel O'Connell, a boy above the age of six and under the age of sixteen years, who, upon due examination by the Hon. Wm. A. Porter, one of the judges of the Superior Court of Cook county, has been found, by competent evidence, to be a proper subject for commitment in the said reform school, and whose moral welfare and the good of society require that he should be sent to said school for instruction, employment and reformation, and that you confine the said Daniel O'Connell within the said reform school, according to the statute in such cases made and provided, and for so doing, this shall be your sufficient warrant.
To the sheriff of Cook county to execute.
Witness, Augustus Jacobson, clerk of our said Superior Court, and the seal thereof, this ninth day of September, A. D. 1870.
A. JACOBSON, Clerk.
The return is, that the boy had been detained by authority of the mittimus, which accompanied the petition, the original of which was filed with an endorsement thereon by the sheriff of its due execution, by the delivery of the “body of the prisoner to the superintendent of the reform school.”
It is admitted, that the relator is the father of the boy, alleged to be restrained of his liberty, and that he is of the age stated.
The only question for determination, is the power of the legislature to pass the laws, under which this boy was arrested and confined.
The first act, in relation to this “reform school,” is a part of the charter of the city of Chicago, approved February 13, 1863, and the second is entitled, “an act in reference to the reform school of the city of Chicago,” approved March 5, 1867.
The first section establishes “a school for the safe keeping, education, employment and reformation of all children between the ages of six and sixteen years, who are destitute of proper parental care, and growing up in mendicancy, ignorance, idleness or vice.”
Section four, of the act of 1867, provides, that “whenever any police magistrate, or justice of the peace, shall have brought before him any boy or girl, within the ages of six or sixteen years, who he has reason to believe is a vagrant, or is destitute of proper parental care, or is growing up in mendicancy, ignorance, idleness or vice,” he shall cause such boy or girl to be arrested, and, together with the witnesses, taken before one of the judges of the superior or circuit court of Cook county. The judge is empowered to issue a summons, or order in writing, to the child's father, mother, guardian, or whosoever may have the care of the child, in the order named, and if there be none such, to any person, at his discretion, to appear, at a time and place mentioned, and show cause why the child should not be committed to the “reform school,” and upon return of due service of the summons, an investigation shall be had. The section then directs, “if, upon such examination, such judge shall be of opinion that said boy or girl is a proper subject for commitment to the reform school, and that his or her moral welfare, and the good of society, require that he or she should be sent to said school for employment, instruction and reformation, he shall so decide, and direct the clerk of the court of which he is judge, to make out a warrant of commitment to said reform school; and such child shall thereupon be committed.”
Section nine, of the act of 1863, directs, that all persons between six and sixteen years of age, convicted of crime punishable by fine or imprisonment, who, in the opinion of the court, would be proper subjects for commitment, shall be committed to said school.
Section ten authorizes the confinement of the children, and that they “shall be kept, disciplined, instructed, employed and governed,” until they shall be reformed and discharged, or shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years; and that the sole authority to discharge shall be in the board of guardians.
The warrant of commitment does not indicate that the arrest was made for a criminal offense. Hence, we conclude that it was issued under the general grant of power, to arrest and confine for misfortune.
The contingencies enumerated, upon the happening of either of which the power may be exercised, are vagrancy, destitution of proper parental care, mendicancy, ignorance, idleness or vice. Upon proof of any one, the child is deprived of home, and parents, and friends, and confined for more than half of an ordinary life. It is claimed, that the law is administered for the moral welfare and intellectual improvement of the minor, and the good of society. From the record before us, we know nothing of the management. We are only informed that a father desires the custody of his child; and that he is restrained of his liberty. Therefore, we can only look at the language of the law, and the power granted.
What is proper parental care? The best and kindest parents would differ, in the attempt to solve the question. No two scarcely agree; and when we consider the watchful supervision, which is so unremitting over the domestic affairs of others, the conclusion is forced upon us, that there is not a child in the land who could not be proved, by two or more witnesses, to be in this sad condition. Ignorance, idleness, vice, are relative terms. Ignorance is always preferable to error, but, at most, is only venial. It may be general or it may be limited. Though it is sometimes said, that “idleness is the parent of vice,” yet the former may exist without the latter. It is strictly an abstinence...
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