Ex parte Hart

157 F. 130, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedNovember 18, 1907
DocketNo. 4,902
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 157 F. 130 (Ex parte Hart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Hart, 157 F. 130, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48 (D. Or. 1907).

Opinion

WOFVFRTON, District Judge.

Dan Hart, the petitioner, is being held for the offense of incest committed with his daughter, both being Indians and settled upon the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in Oregon, under a warrant issued by a United States commissioner, and the hearing is upon an order to the marshal to show cause why the petitioner is so held. Hart is not an allottee.

By the statutes relating to Indians (section 2145, Rev. St.) it is provided that the general laws of the United States as to the punishment of crimes committed in any place within the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States shall extend to the Indian country, “except as to crimes the punishment of which is expressly provided for in this title,” namely, the title relating to Indians. A transposition of the clauses here is made for the purpose of perspicuity, and such is the rendition of the section as amended by the act of March 27, 1854, c. 26, 10 Stat. 270. The section as originally adopted, being section 25 of “An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers,” read as follows:

“That so much of the laws of the United States as provides for the punishment of crimes committed within any place within the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, shall be in force in the Indian country: Provided, the same shall not extend to crimes committed by one Indian against the person or property of another Indian.” Act June 30, 1834, c. 161, 4 Stat. 733.

Section 2146 of the Revised Statutes prescribes that:

“The preceding section shall not be construed to extend to crimes committed by one Indian against the person or property of another Indian, nor to any Indian committing any offense in the Indian country who has been punished by the local law of the tribe,” etc.

The subject-matter of this section is also comprised by the act of March 27, 1854, c. 26, 10 Stat. 270, but its present form is the result of the amendment of February 18,1875. Act Feb. 18, 1875, c. 80, 18 Stat. 318.

The offense of which the petitioner stands accused is, or was, not provided for by the title relating to Indians. It is provided for, however, by section 4 of the act of March 3, 1887, c. 397, 24 Stat. 635 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3635], being an act to amend an act entitled “An act to amend section 5352 of the Revised Statutes,” etc. This latter section, in its original form, was first adopted July 1, 1862, under the title of “An act to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the territories of the United States and other places.” Act July 1, 1862, c. 126, 12 Stat. 501. By the Indian appropriation act of March 3, 1885, c. 341, 23 Stat. 385, it was enacted by the clause known as section 9:

“That immediately upon and after the date of the passage of this act all Indians, committing against the person or property of another Indian or other person any of the following crimes, namely, murder, manslaughter,” etc., “within any territory of the United States, and either within or without [132]*132an Indian reservation, shall be subject therefor to the laws of such territory relating to said crimes, and shall be tried therefor in the same courts and in the same manner and shall be subject to the same penalties ás are all other persons charged with the commission of said crimes, respectively; and the said courts are hereby given jurisdiction in all such cases; and all such Indians committing any of the above crimes against the person or property of another Indian or other person within the boundaries of any state of the United States, and within the limits oi any Indian reservation, shall be subject to the same laws, tried in the same courts and in the. same manner, and subject to the same penalties as are all other persons committing any of the above crimes within the. exclusive jurisdiction of the United .States.”

On April 5, 1866,, Congress adopted an act providing for the punishment of the offense of forging any bond, public record, and the like. Act April 5, 1866; c. 24, 14 Stat. 12, 13. Section 2 thereof as thus adopted has become section 5391 of the Revised Statutes [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3651], which reads as follows:

“If any offense be committed in any place which has been or may hereafter be, ceded to and under the jurisdiction of the United States, which offense is not prohibited, or the punishment thereof is not specially provided for, by any law of the United States, such offense shall be- liable to, and receive, the same punishment as the laws of the state in which such place is situated, now in force, provide for the like offense when committed within the jurisdiction of such state.”

Rater, to wit, on July 7, 1898, Congress adopted another act, for the protection of harbor defenses and fortifications from malicious injury, and by section 2 thereof provided:

“That when any offense is committed in any place, jurisdiction over which has been' retained by the United States or ceded to it by a state, or which has been purchased with the consent of a state for the erection of a fort, magazine, arsenal, dockyard,- or other needful building or structure, the punishment for which offense is not provided for by any law of the United States, the person committing such offense shall, upon ¿conviction in a circuit or district court of the United States fór the district' in which the offense was committed, be liable to and receive the same punishment as the laws of the state in which such place is situated now provide for the like offense when committed within the jurisdiction of such state, and the said courts are hereby vested with jurisdiction for such purpose.” Act July 7, 1898, c. 576, 30- Stat. 717 [U. S. Comp. St 1901, p. 3652].

Thus it will be seen that, inclusive of the act of March 3, 1885, the general laws of the.United States touching the punishment of crimes, etc., were extended to the Indian country, reserving, however, from the operation thereof crimes committed by one Indian against the person dr property of another Indian. Then there are enumerated certain offenses, namely, murder, manslaughter, etc., committed by one Indian 'against the person or property of .another or other persons, which áre subjected to the same laws and made cognizable by the same courts, and in the same manner, and entailing the same penalties as apply to all other persons committing any of such offenses within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. The effect of the latter act, therefore, is to subject the Indians to the general laws, as it respects the specific offenses enumerated, applicable to the punishment of crimes committed in the Indian country.

Npw, having in mind this review of the statutes, the contention of counsel representing the respective parties will be understood. The [133]*133defendant’s counsel insists that the crime with which the petitioner is charged, and for the commission of which he-is being held, is one that is prohibited and the punishment thereof provided for by the laws of the United States, and, being committed by one Indian against another and not included within the offenses enumerated in the act of March 3, 1885, it is not an offense for Avhich the defendant is punishable in the federal courts. On the other hand, the deputy prosecuting attorney insists that, there being no exception contained in the act of.July 7,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bailey v. United States
47 F.2d 702 (Ninth Circuit, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
157 F. 130, 1907 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-hart-ord-1907.