United States v. Jacobs
| Decision Date | 01 November 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-1883,75-1883 |
| Citation | 429 U.S. 909,50 L.Ed.2d 277,97 S.Ct. 299 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. Estelle JACOBS, aka "Mrs. Kramer" |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Summary Disposition of the Court.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is vacated and the case is remanded to that court for further consideration in light of United States v. Mandujano, 425 U.S. 564, 96 S.Ct. 1768, 48 L.Ed.2d 212 (1976).
My original reaction to the proposal to vacate and remand in the light of United States v. Mandujano, 425 U.S. 564, 96 S.Ct. 1768, 48 L.Ed.2d 212 (1976), was exactly that expressed by Mr. Justice MARSHALL in dissent. For as a Circuit Judge I had the experience of trying to decipher similar delphic orders, and I agree completely that a constitutional holding is not controlling on a question involving nothing more than an exercise of an appellate court's supervisory power. Nevertheless, there is an omission in the Court of Appeals opinion which makes it appropriate for that court to re-examine its holding.
As the concurring opinions by Mr. Justice Brennan and Mr. Justice Stewart in Mandujano demonstrate, the fact that the prosecutor may have erred in failing to give a grand jury witness adequate warnings does not lead inexorably to the conclusion that the witness cannot be prosecuted for perjury. Cf. United States v. Knox, 396 U.S. 77, 82, 90 S.Ct. 363, 24 L.Ed.2d 275. The Court of Appeals opinion seems to assume that the conclusion necessarily follows from the premise. Since I think it would be appropriate for that court to address that precise point in the first instance, I acquiesce in the remand.
As Mr. Justice MARSHALL explains, this order of the Court is little short of irrational. While our heavy caseload necessarily leads us sometimes to dispose of cases summarily, it must never lead us to dispose of any case irresponsibly. Yet I fear precisely that has happened here.
The Court of Appeals to which this case is now remanded cannot but find this order totally incomprehensible.
"In the interest of uniformity in criminal procedure within the circuit," the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's decision to suppress respondent's grand jury testimony.* The Court of Appeals explicitly disclaimed a constitutional basis for its holding. Its action was taken "pursuant to (its) supervisory function."
There is no reason to expect the Court of Appeals to reach a different result in light of our decision in United States v. Mandujano, 425 U.S. 564, 96 S.Ct. 1768, 48 L.Ed.2d 212 (1976). Our holding that respondent would not have had a constitutional right to have her testimony suppressed simply has no bearing on a lower court decision which did not assume the existence of such a constitutional right. And it is clear that the well-established supervisory power of the courts of appeals over the...
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Grand Jury Subpoena Served Upon Doe, In re
...the subpoena based upon the court's supervisory power, United States v. Jacobs, 531 F.2d 87 (2d Cir.), vacated, 429 U.S. 909, 97 S.Ct. 299, 50 L.Ed.2d 277 (1976), on remand, 547 F.2d 772 (2d Cir.1976), cert. dismissed, 436 U.S. 31, 98 S.Ct. 1873, 56 L.Ed.2d 53 (1978). Indeed, the situation ......
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U.S. v. Williams, 87-2929
...of such activity.23 We recognize that in United States v. Jacobs, 531 F.2d 87 (2d Cir.), vacated and remanded, 429 U.S. 909, 97 S.Ct. 299, 50 L.Ed.2d 277 (1976), aff'd on remand, 547 F.2d 772 (2d Cir.1976), cert. dismissed, 436 U.S. 31, 98 S.Ct. 1873, 56 L.Ed.2d 53 (1978), the Second Circui......
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Rand v. Rowland
...is also a proper exercise of our supervisory power over the courts within our circuit. United States v. Jacobs, 429 U.S. 909, 911, 97 S.Ct. 299, 50 L.Ed.2d 277 (1976) (Marshall, J., dissenting) (recognizing the "well-established supervisory power of the courts of appeals over the district c......
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U.S. v. Birdman
...decisions cited in note 35, Supra.43 See, e.g., United States v. Jacobs, 531 F.2d 87, 90 (2d Cir.), Vacated and remanded, 429 U.S. 909, 97 S.Ct. 299, 50 L.Ed.2d 277, Aff'd on remand, 547 F.2d 772 (2d Cir. 1976), Cert. dismissed, 436 U.S. 31, 98 S.Ct. 1873, 56 L.Ed.2d 53 (1978); United State......