The United States, Plaintiff In Error v. Jacob Knight, Benjamin Knight, Isaac Knight, and Edward Knight, Defendants In Error

• Citation: 10 L.Ed. 465,14 Pet. 301,39 U.S. 301
• Parties: THE UNITED STATES, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. JACOB KNIGHT, BENJAMIN KNIGHT, ISAAC KNIGHT, AND EDWARD KNIGHT, DEFENDANTS IN ERROR
• Decision Date: 01 January 1840
• Court: United States Supreme Court

39 U.S. 301

14 Pet. 301

10 L.Ed. 465

THE UNITED STATES, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. JACOB KNIGHT, BENJAMIN KNIGHT, ISAAC KNIGHT, AND EDWARD

KNIGHT, DEFENDANTS IN ERROR.

January Term, 1840

IN error to the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Maine.

The United States, in 1838, instituted an action of debt against the defendants in error, on a bond executed by them on the 30th day of January, 1838, for the sum of seventeen thousand four hundred and ninety-four dollars and four cents; the condition of which was as follows:

'The condition of the above written obligation is such, that whereas the said Jacob and Benjamin Knight have been and now are imprisoned in the prison at Portland, in the said Maine district, by virtue of an execution issued against them on a judgment obtained against them by the said United States, at the District Court of the United States for Maine district, which was begun and holden at Portland, within and for the district of Maine, on the first Tuesday of December, A. D. 1837, for the sum of eight thousand four hundred and sixty-two dollars and thirty-six cents, principal, and one hundred and sixty-one dollars and seventy-nine cents for interest thereon, to the 19th day of December, aforesaid, and costs of suit taxed at twenty-four dollars and forty-seven cents, and also for all legal interest that may accrue on said sum of eight thousand four hundred and sixty-two dollars and thirty-six cents, from the said 19th December, until said judgment shall be fully discharged and satisfied, with one hundred cents more, for one writ of execution, and the officer's fees and charges for commitment, taxed at ninety-seven dollars and forty cents.

'Now, if the said Jacob Knight, and Benjamin Knight, from the time of executing this bond, shall continue true prisoners, in the custody of the jailer, within the limits of the jail yard, until they shall be lawfully discharged, and shall not depart without the exterior bounds of said jail yard, until lawfully discharged from said imprisonment, according to the laws of the United States in such cases made and provided, and commit no manner of escape, then the said obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force.'

In this case the parties in the Circuit Court agreed to the following statement of facts: 'On the 30th day of January, last past, Jacob and Benjamin Knight were committed to the jail in the city of Portland, on an execution issued on a judgment in favour of the said United States, against said Jacob and Benjamin; whereupon the said Jacob and Benjamin, as principals, and Isaac and Edward Knight as sureties, gave the bond declared on in this suit; that said Jacob and Benjamin continued to remain within the limits of the town of Portland, exclusive of the islands, and did not depart therefrom up to the time of the commencement of this suit, nor have they since departed therefrom; but neither the said Jacob nor Benjamin, from the time of the execution of said bond, nor afterwards, at any time, lodged in the night time within the walls of said jail, but remained at large within the limits of said town of Portland, exclusive of the islands belonging to the same, both day and night.

'If, upon the foregoing facts, the Court are of opinion that the condition of said bond has been broken by the said Jacob and Benjamin, and that they have made an escape, then the Court are to render judgment, to be entered as of said October term, and as on verdict rendered for the said United States; and if the Court shall be of opinion that the obligation of the bond has not been broken, then judgment to be rendered, in manner aforesaid, for the said defendants.'

And each party reserves to themselves the right to a writ of error, to reverse any such judgment, as may, as aforesaid, be rendered by said Court in the case.

The justices of the peace of the county of Cumberland, on the 29th May, 1787, established the 'proper boundaries of the jail yard in the county, to be: beginning at the bottom of Love lane, at low-water mark; thence up said lane, including the houses on each side thereof to the northerly side of Back street; thence down said Back street, including the houses on both sides thereof, to King street; from thence down said King street, including the houses on both sides thereof, to low-water mark; thence by low-water mark to the first bounds, including all the ground and buildings within the aforesaid limits.'

Afterwards, on the 16th of October, 1798, the limits of the jail yard were extended to 'the town of Portland, exclusive of the islands:' and on the 10th of September, the judges of the Court of Sessions ordered, 'that the bounds of the jail yard be extended over the whole county, and to the exterior limits thereof: which are hereby fixed and established as the bounds of the jail yard for the said county of Cumberland.'

At the October sessions of the Circuit Court, judgment, on the facts agreed, was given, that 'the obligation of the bond was not broken;' and the United States prosecuted this writ of error.

The case was argued by Mr. Gilpin, Attorney General of the United States, for the plaintiff in error; and by Mr. Evans, for the defendants.

Mr. Gilpin, for the United States, submitted to the Court that the obligation of the bond given by the defendants to the United States was broken:

1. Because they were only entitled, pursuant to the act of Congress of 6th January, 1800, to the like privileges of the yards or limits of the said jail, as persons confined on process from the Courts of Maine were entitled to at the time that act was passed. 1 Story's Laws U. S. 715.

2. Because the privileges of persons confined on process from the Courts of Maine at the time that act was passed, did not extend to the privilege of being outside of the walls of the jail during the night time.

Mr. Gilpin continued:

The conditions of the bond which the defendants gave to the United States were: 1. That Jacob and Benjamin Knight should continue true prisoners in the custody of the jailor, within the limits of the jail yard, until they should be lawfully discharged. 2. That they should not depart without the exterior limits of the jail yard, until lawfully discharged from imprisonment according to the laws of the United States: and, 3. That they should commit no manner of escape. A violation of either of these conditions, by Jacob or Benjamin Knight, eititled the United States to a judgment for the penalty of the bond. The facts are, that although neither of them did depart beyond the limits of the town of Portland exclusive of the islands, which constituted the boundaries of the jail yard, yet neither of them did at any time lodge at night within the walls of the jail, but both went at large within the boundaries during the night as well as the day. The Circuit Court adjudged that this was no breach of either of the conditions of the bond.

The correctness of this judgment depends upon the meaning of 'true imprisonment,' and an 'escape' therefrom. A true imprisonment, under an execution from the Courts of the United States, is that which the laws of the United States prescribe, and an act of the prisoner, before his discharge, at variance therewith, is an escape. The United States, not having jails in the states for the custody of their prisoners, recommended to the state legislatures, on the 23d September, 1789, (1 Story's Laws, 70,) to make it 'the duty of the keepers of their jails, to receive and safe keep therein, all prisoners committed under the authority of the United States,' until lawfully discharged; and to subject them to the same penalties as in the case of prisoners committed under the state laws. To this recommendation Massachusetts, of which Maine then constituted a part, acceded on the 26th February, 1790, (1 Laws of Massachusetts, 487;) thus requiring all prisoners committed under the laws of the United States, to be 'received and safely kept' in the jails of Massachusetts. On the 5th May, 1792, (1 Story's Laws, 246,) Congress extended, for a limited period, to persons so imprisoned, 'like privileges of the yards or limits of the jails,' as persons confined for debt under judgments of the state Courts; but subject also to 'the like regulations and restrictions.' These privileges they renewed, also for limited periods, in 1794 and 1796, (1 Story's Laws, 340. 441;) and finally made them permanent by the act of 6th January, 1800. 1 Story's Laws, 715. Since then, and previous to the present suit, they have passed no additional act upon the subject. The law, therefore, in regard to the imprisonment of debtors of the United States is, that they are to have the same privileges, and be subject to the same restrictions, while in jail, as debtors under process from the state Courts had or were subject to, on the 6th January, 1800; that then, and only then, are they 'truly imprisoned;' and that the jailor is subject to the penalties attendant on their 'escape,' if he allows them any other privileges, or relaxes any of those restrictions.

What, then, were the privileges and restrictions of an imprisoned debtor in Massachusetts in 1800? They were, as declared in the act of 21st February, 1785, (1 Laws of Massachusetts, 221,) that he might have 'a chamber and lodging in any of the houses or apartments belonging to the prison, and liberty of the yard within the day time.' These were the privileges of the debtors, and the restrictions upon them: to lodge in any apartment belonging to the jail, and to be at large within the limits of the yard in the day time. To lodge elsewhere, or to be set at large even within the limits of the yard during the night, was not a 'true imprisonment;' but clearly amounted to 'an escape.' The words of the law seem too plain to permit a doubt as to this construction; but if there be-any, it is removed by the judicial decisions of the Courts of Massachusetts. The rule laid down in the case of M'Keen vs. D...