Palmer v. Thompson

20 App. D.C. 273, 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 5448
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 23, 1902
DocketNo. 1186
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 20 App. D.C. 273 (Palmer v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palmer v. Thompson, 20 App. D.C. 273, 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 5448 (D.C. 1902).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Morris

delivered the opinion of the Court:

1. On behalf of the appellee a motion has been made in this court to dismiss the appeal, on the ground that the United States, being the real party in interest, are not, as is alleged, authorized by law to appeal; and that if the marshal is to be regarded, as the real party in interest, and not the United States, the appeal should be dismissed because he has no real interest in the subject-matter of controversy, and has given no appeal bond, as required by law and the rules of the court. But this question we decided adversely to the contention of the appellee in the case of Leonard v. Rodda, 5 [278]*278App. D. C. 256, upon the authority o£ which the motion must be overruled.

2. In the appellee’s petition for the writ of habeas corpus various reasons are specifically assigned for the invalidity of the proceeding against him;_ and these constitute the basis of the appellant’s assignments of error. They may be reduced to five, as follows:

(1) That the indictment against the appellee appears on its face to have been found more than three years after the commission of the alleged offense.

(2) That the statute, under which the indictment was found, was enacted subsequently to the date of the commission of the alleged offense.

(3) That the Federal court in Tennessee was without authority in law to issue its warrant to the marshal for the District of Columbia for the arrest and removal of the appellee.

(4) That neither under section 1014 nor under section 716 of the Devised Statutes of the United States, both of which are relied upon for the purpose, is there authority for the arrest and removal of the appellee.

(5) That the discharge of the appellee under the former writ of habeas corpus on June 5, 1888, was an adjudication of the subject-matter of controversy, and is conclusive, in the absence of any new facts or conditions, which do not appear.

Of these the first and second require no consideration by us. They seem to be based upon a palpable misapprehension of the allegations of the indictment; and they do not appear to be insisted on in argument. Even if they had support in the record, they are not matters that can be considered upon habeas corpus proceedings. While the facts which they would imply are in a sense jurisdictional facts, they are not of such character as to be subjects of inquiry in a collateral proceeding. They constitute matters of defense in the original proceeding, ánd could and should have been there brought forward; and in all probability, if they have' any [279]*279foundation whatever in fact, were there brought forward. At all events, they have no place here.

3. The principal question argued before us is whether the Federal court in Tennessee had authority in-law for the issue of its warrant to the marshal of the District of Columbia for the arrest and removal of the appellee. And with this may be considered the other question, whether under sections 716 and 1014 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, or either of them, there is authority for such arrest and removal.

We may assume that it would not be incompetent for Congress to enact that, as occasion might require, the writs of the Federal court of any Federal district of the Union might be executed in any other Federal district, and might be directed to the marshal of such other Federal district for execution. But, in the absence of specific statutory enactment to that effect, it is undoubtedly the general rule of law that no court has authority or jurisdiction beyond the territorial limits of the district for which it has been established, notwithstanding that it may be, as in the present case, only one of numerous similar' courts of the same sovereignty. No court can by its writ impose a duty upon an officer outside of those limits. It may well be that, under exceptional circumstances, it may direct its own officer for some specific purpose to go outside of its own territorial limits; but we cannot understand how it can assume any authority under the general powers vested in it to issue its precept to the officer of another jurisdiction, when it has no power to enforce the performance of the duty. We do not mean to be understood as saying that Congress may not grant this authority. On the contrary, we think that Congress has the power to-do so. But we do not find in the statute law the evidence that it has done anything of the hind. In our opinion neither section 1014 nor section 716 of the Revised Statutes purports to grant any such power. The provisions of section 1014 are certainly inconsistent with the theory of such a grant of power; and there is no good ground to construe the power granted in section 716, to issue all writs not specifically provided for by statute, which may be necessary for the exercise of [280]*280their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law,” as intended to abolish the restrictions inherent in territorial limitation.

The duties of the marshals of the United States are prescribed by section 787 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that “ it shall be the duty of the marshal of each district to attend the district and circuit courts when sitting therein, and to execute throughout the district all lawful precepts directed to him, and issued under the authority of the United States.” Evidently the lawful precepts to be executed by him are those issued by the courts sitting in his own district, and not those of the courts of other districts to which he is not amenable, and which he cannot attend.

The only authority cited to the contrary of this is the case In re Christian, 82 Fed. Rep. 885, which arose in the western judicial district of Arkansas, and in which the learned justice who presided over the Eederal district court in that district, held as follows:

Under this statute (referring to Rev. Stat., Sec. 716), I think the judge of the central district of the Indian Territory has the power to issue his warrant, addressed to the marshal of the western district of Arkansas, to arrest Christian, and to send an officer here to take him back to that court to be dealt with as law and justice may require.- 'This view is sustained by the case of Oaksmith, 11 Op. Attys. Gen. U. S. 127; Randolph's case, 2 Op. Attys. Gen. U. S. 564; 2 Moore on Extradition, Sec. 540; Stantons case, Id. Sec. 541.”

With all respect for the learned justice who pronounced this opinion, we find ourselves unable to concur in it, or to find support for it in the authorities which he cites. In Randolph's case the reference is to the opinion of that great jurist, Chief Justice Taney, when he was Attorney General ■of the United States. The question had been propounded to him officially, “ whether the judge of the Supreme Court of the United States residing in the fifth district, or a district judge of one of the districts of Virginia, can issue a warrant for the arrest of Robert B. Randolph, for the assault committed in the District of Columbia on the President of the [281]*281United States; it having been ascertained that Randolph was now somewhere in the State of Virginia.” And the answer of the Attorney General was:

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

Related

People Ex Rel. Ritholz v. Sain
187 N.E.2d 241 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1962)
Phillips v. Hiatt
83 F. Supp. 935 (D. Delaware, 1949)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 App. D.C. 273, 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 5448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palmer-v-thompson-dc-1902.