Podolski v. Baird

94 F. Supp. 294, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2116
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedNovember 6, 1950
Docket9884
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 94 F. Supp. 294 (Podolski v. Baird) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Podolski v. Baird, 94 F. Supp. 294, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2116 (E.D. Mich. 1950).

Opinion

KOSCINSKI, District Judge.

Findings of Fact

1. Petitioner, Henry Podolski, seeks by writ of habeas corpus to obtain his release from custody for the reason that he is being illegally deprived of his liberty without due process of law and without any warrant issued out of this court or any other court.

2. Respondents’ answer and return to the petition alleges that petitioner was arrested and taken into custody pursuant to a warrant dated August 4, 1949, issued by James E. Riley, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Enforcement Division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, *296 charging; that petitioner has been found in the United States in violation of the immigration laws thereof, and is subject to be taken into custody and deported pursuant to the Act of October 16, 1918, as amended, in that he was, prior to entry, a member of the following class, set forth in Section 1 of said Act, 8 U.S.C.A. § 137: An alien who is a member of an organization, association, society or group that writes, circulates, distributes, prints, publishes or displays', or causes to be written, circulated, distributed, printed, published, or displayed or has in his possession for the purpose of circulation, distribution, publication, issue, or display, any written or printed matter advising, advocating, or teaching the overthrow, by force or violence, of the government of the United States; and the Act of October 16, 1918, as amended, in that he was, prior to entry, a member of the following class, set forth in Section 1 of said Act: An alien who is a member of an organization, association, society or group that believes in, advises, advocates, or teaches the overthrow, by force or violence, of the government of the United States.

3. Petitioner was arrested on said warrant in 1949 and thereafter released on bail approved by the Attorney General in the amount of $5,000, pending determination of deportation proceedings now pending against him.

4. Hearings were had in such deportation proceedings from December 19, 1949, to February 20, 1950, but by stipulation between respondent, his attorneys, and the Immigration Service it was admitted that such hearings did not conform to the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act of June 11, 1946, 5 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq., and a hearing de novo was therefore set for November 3, 1950.

5. Petitioner was rearrested on October 23, 1950, on the warrant dated August 4, 1949, being the same warrant on which he was previously arrested and released on bail, and is now held in custody without bail by order of the Attorney General.

6. Petitioner first entered the United States in 1930; deportation proceedings were instituted against him on the basis oi his illegal entry on a forged passport but such proceedings were cancelled and his entry legalized in 1944, as of September 4, 1937.

7. Petitioner left the United States, for a visit to Poland in December, 1945, and returned in January, 1946, having obtained the necessary documents for departure and re-entry.

8. Petitioner, by his own admission, was a member of the left-wing socialists, prior to his entry into the United States; he now subscribes to the principles of left-wing socialism and, after his arrival here, has taught others theories of economics based on left-wing socialist views. In answer to the question as to whether or not he is a ■Communist, he answered, on previous advice of his counsel, “I refuse to answer because of self-incrimination.”

9. No showing has been made by respondents that since petitioner’s release on bond in the deportation proceedings now pending against him, and up to the time of his rearrest on October 23, 1950, he violated any of the conditions of the bond given for his release, or that he has failed to appear before the immigration authorities at any time he was requested to do so.

10. No showing has been made that any obstacles exist to prevent the Immigration and Naturalization Service from proceeding toward an expeditious determination of petitioner’s deportability in the proceedings now pending before that Service.

11. Petitioner admitted that he is reconciled to the fact that he must leave the country, with or without deportation. Two weeks prior to his last arrest he petitioned the Immigration and Naturalization Service, through his attorney, for opportunity to leave the country voluntarily and thus speed hi's departure.

12. Petitioner attacks the validity of the warrant on which he is being detained for the reason that such warrant “does not allege violation of any statute of the United States.”

13. Both parties concede that this court has jurisdiction to determine the validity of the process on which petitioner is be *297 ing detained; petitioner further contends that, if he was arrested on a valid process and was otherwise accorded due process up to the time of his rearrest, this court should then determine whether the Attorney General abused his discretion in denying bail to petitioner, while respondents claim such discretion is absolute and not reviewable by this court.

Conclusions of Law Warrant

1. Petitioner argues that the Act of October 16, 1918, as amended Title 8 U.S. C.A. § 137, provides for exclusion of aliens who at any time shall be or shall have been members of any one of the classes therein enumerated, but for deportation of only those aliens who were at the time of entry or became within five years after entry members of such excludable classes, while the warrant charges petitioner with membership in one or more of the excludable classes prior to entry and that the warrant, therefore, “charges no violation of a statute” and is void.

2. The Act of October 16, 1918 provides that any alien who, at any time, shall be or shall have been a member of any one of the classes therein enumerated shall be excluded from admission into the United States. The classes are enumerated in subsections (a) to (e), inclusive.

3. The classes to which the warrant refers are covered by subsections (c), (d), and (e) of the Act.

4. Subsection (g) of the Act provides that any alien who was at the time of entering the United States, or has been at any time thereafter, a member of any one of the classes -of aliens enumerated in that section, may be taken into custody and deported, in the manner as provided by various other sections of the Act, including Section 155, Title 8 U.S.C.A., Act of February, 5, 1917.

5. Section 155 provides: “(a) At any time within five years after entry, any alien who at the time of entry was a member of one or more of the classes excluded by law; any alien who shall have entered or who shall be found in the United States in violation of this chapter, or in violation of any other law of the United States * * * shall, upon the warrant of the Attorney General, be taken into custody and deported.”

6. The language of the warrant which alleges membership in one or more of the excludable classes properly charges violation of Section 137

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Bluebook (online)
94 F. Supp. 294, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/podolski-v-baird-mied-1950.