Ralich v. United States

• Decision Date: 27 December 1950
• Docket Number: No. 14201.,14201.
• Citation: 185 F.2d 784
• Parties: RALICH v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

185 F.2d 784 (1950)

RALICH v. UNITED STATES.

No. 14201.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

December 27, 1950.

E. J. Abdo, Minneapolis, Minn. (Haugland & Abdo, Minneapolis, Minn., on the brief), for appellant.

Howard H. Gelb, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn. (C. U. Landrum, U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn., and Ben C. Marien, Immigration and Naturalization Service, St. Paul, Minn., on the brief), for appellee.

Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and WOODROUGH and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

GARDNER, Chief Judge.

This appeal is from an order denying appellant's petition for naturalization as a citizen of the United States of America. Appellant was born in Jugoslavia but came to the United States in September, 1901. She filed petition for naturalization July 11, 1941 but it was not heard by the court until November 17, 1947 and March 6, 1950. The court found that appellant was formerly an operator of houses of ill fame in Minneapolis, Minnesota, beginning about the year 1922 and continuing until 1933 or 1934; that during that period she operated so-called hotels in Minneapolis which were in reality houses of prostitution; that she knowingly permitted prostitutes to ply their profession therein under an arrangement whereby she obtained a certain agreed percentage of their earnings; that after hearing testimony of former prostitutes and others acquainted with the nature of her activities she admitted that she operated certain hotels in Minneapolis during this period but denied that she had knowledge of any illegal business being conducted therein; that she received merely the customary room rent from the inmates. The court found as a fact that "she wilfully and knowingly perjured herself when she falsely swore that she never operated these hotels as houses of prostitution." Details of the nauseating testimony upon which the court made these findings and the revolting conduct of the appellant during the period mentioned, as shown by overwhelming testimony, is omitted here because appellant does not question the sufficiency of the evidence, if admissible, to sustain the court's findings.

Appellant seeks reversal on substantially the following grounds: (1) there being no proof of misbehavior on the part of appellant in the five years immediately preceding the date of the filing of her petition for naturalization, her petition should not be denied upon proof of misdeeds antedating the five-year period; (2) evidence of misdeeds prior to the five-year period may not be received as proof of the alien's present moral standard and character; (3) the alien may not be asked upon a naturalization trial whether she committed misdeeds during a period antedating the five-year period and her testimony that she did not, being on an immaterial issue, can not be the basis of finding her guilty of perjury or false swearing.

An alien has no inherent right to naturalization as citizenship is a gift or a privilege which a foreign government may refuse or may grant on such conditions as it may prescribe. Congress has provided the conditions on which a foreigner may become a citizen of the United States of America. Section 707(a), Title 8 U.S.C.A., provides that, "No person, except as hereinafter provided in this chapter, shall be naturalized unless such petitioner, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing petition for naturalization has resided continuously within the United States for at least five years and within the State in which the petitioner resided at the time of filing the petition for at least six months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the petition up to the time of admission to citizenship, and (3) during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States."

It is observed that this statute provides in effect that one seeking naturalization must prove, among other things, that for at least five years petitioner has been and still is a person of good moral character. Over appellant's objection the government was permitted to show acts involving immoral conduct for a period antedating the five-year period. It is first worthy of note that the statute does not prescribe as a condition for naturalization that the applicant be a person of good repute during the five-year period, but that during that period he shall be a person of good moral character. Character implies moral qualities which belong to and distinguish an individual person. It signifies the reality as distinguished from reputation or the opinion generally entertained of him. Sloan v. United States, 8 Cir., 31 F.2d 902; In re Weinstein, 150 Or. 1, 42 P.2d 744; H. L. Shaffer & Co. v. Prosser, 99 Colo. 335, 62 P.2d 1161; Thompson v. State, 115 Tex. Cr.R. 530, 28 S.W.2d 153; State v. Hartung, 239 Iowa 414, 30 N.W.2d 491. In Sloan v. United States, supra, Judge Stone, speaking for this court, said: "Character is what a man really is. Reputation is what the general run of people who know him think he is." 8 Cir., 31 F.2d 906.

In Re Weinstein, supra, the Supreme Court of Oregon considered the fitness of an applicant to practice law. By rule of court which had the force and effect of law it was provided that to be admitted to practice law the applicant must produce proof that he is "a person of good moral character". In referring to the meaning to be given to the words "good moral character" the court among other things said: "* * * Character and reputation are distinct. Reputation is the opinion generally entertained of a man, while character is what he really is." 150 Or. 1, 42 P.2d 745.

In that...