Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-01-16

sptcuous place IN the Constitution of the
United States.
Upon the requisitions being made, it was
ny,hrst duty tosnquire whether the cases were
such as called for the exercise of the power
thus invoked. Itwas readily sscertained that
NIL my authority, in this behalf. came from
The fzpiliar provision in the Federal Con
rutuuon relating 10 the surrender Of the fu-
gtuyes from justice. InRsmueh as this pro
s1Sion operates in restraint of liberty, itmust
b rigid.y construed aad every case not fairly
included must be held rs beyond its scope,
Ird every doubt must be resolved against its
application Rigorous as this rule seems, its
existence and wisdom are alike beVond ques-
Sien. 1t Is the same rule in favor of liberty
which has obtSined for centuries in that coun-
try from which we have drawn our systems
lUferiuinal Jurisprudence, and the same rule
which Is to-day in all the States applied TO
criminal proceedings in every stage of their
progress. Adopted to protect the citizen
againts the exercise of arbitrary power, the
experience of many ages has proved its value,
and 1t still retsins its place among the chief
safeguards Of personal security. 1t has be-
come hxed principle oflaw. and yet lndepen-
dent of its clear dictates, / am satisfied that
upon no recognized rule of construction can
the cqnsitRtional provision be made cover the
cases il question.
These r~eclamations presented substantially
tie same question, and were therefore to be
determined by the application of the same
general principles. Each Of them charged
the accused with the commission of an act By.
which San owner and master" had been de
prived OF his alleged slave Tne question
WAS thus Presented. whether an act Of this na-
,ture can be considered rs either s'tressun
felony, or other crime" in thu sense in
which these phrases ara used By the Constitu-
ton. ASnifesdy, it as nottresson, and man
IIes;ly 1t lie not felony, according to the i'm
port Of that word when the Constitution was
adopted.
Does "other crime include every oiFense
declared to be such by the laws OF state? If
80, my duty to surrender was placed beyond
question. But this 1 conceive would be n
most mischieTous and impracticable iuterpre-
rtstlon. For, if by eother crime is meant
any act made criminal by the law of q State,
then the Executive of each State Is under
constitutional obligation to remand its citi-
sens to another, for any act which the Leg
jslature cfany State may designate as a Grim =.
Ia this sense the word crime has no other
meaning than that Whicha Legislature, IN its
discretion, may give it; and the constitution
NJ obligation of the Executive of each State
"NN@ ~ NAC GdPAlGCs 0AAQ N1G A4D-
srty of the citizens would be deprived, upon
tas legislation of the others. Such a con-
Itruction of the constitutional provision could
not be tolerated, for it would lead to inf
niss abuse; nor could its obligations be en-
forced.
it then, by " other crime" il was
not intended to make the citizens o:
each State liable to rendition at tho
discretion of the Legislature of ovc-
~ other State, and a moro limited
sand definite meaning is to be given to
the term " or other crime" where
shall that limitation be found?
The provision under consideration
was introduced as q rule o~finternation-
al law between the States. AS IN
eernatienal law it must have a def
mite meaning, understood and recog-
nizad when entered into by the States.
1t must have the same meaning in
all the States. Its construction, there
fore, must DO determined by the gen
eral and accepted meaning of the
terms used at the time the provision
WAS adopted.
What, then, was the received aeccp-
:tation of the words treason, felony,
OF other erime," when tho Constitu
ton was framed?
The common law, its Jury indict-
mont, rules of evidence, and definition
Of felony and other crimes and misde-
meanors, was interviewer with the
criminal Jurisprudence of all t o orig
;inai thirteen States of tho Union.
The Constitution itself, moro than
once expressly, (Art. VII, Amend
lncnts,) and everywhere by necessary
Implication, recognizes this system as
- part of the national Jurisprudence;
and in the. Federal tribunals it is con-
,Etantly appealed to, not as a source of
Jurisdiction, butt as the means by which
a jurisdiction, when given, is to be OK
, ercised, and as furnishing tho rulos by
which the grants of power OF the Con-
yEtitution are to be interpreted and ap-
plicd. The very phrases ~"treason, fell
ony, and other crime" in the provis-
ion now in question comes to US from
that source, and without reference to
it, n at least of these phrases is ut
terly unintclligible. These considera-
.fisns are conclusive that the Consti-
tuition ut large, and especially this
clause of it, was drawn with direct ref
ercnce TO the system of the common
law, as affording the guide to its ex-
position and administration.
That tho ofenses stated in these re-
qoisitions arc unknown TO the COM
mon law is too manifest to need re-
mark.
Although the rule of the common
law seems to be safe guidein determ-
ming what are crimes within the
meaning of the Constitution, l have
not been governed by that alone.
This provision Of the Constitution,
~ss has already been stated, is a rule Of
international law between States
;Its construction, may, therefore, be
very properly determined by interna-
tienal law. The extradition of GRIM
inals has never been extended to pure
~ local offences, growing out Of do
nestle institutions, and the word
''crime" would undoubtedly be regar-
ded, in an express compact between
two States, as relating not merely to
grave offences deemed wrong by the
general conscience of the Christian
world, bat as crimes by tho laws and
usages of all civilized nations.
If, then, the crimes referred 10 in
the Constitution are not any acts
whatever, which any State may ca
prieiously declare to be such, the
meaning of the Constitution mast be
found in what are defined to be crimes
by the common lsw, Or recognized as
such by the law of Dstions. 1t is clear
that neither the common nor interna-
1i0nal law ra~corpi1aS tho acFo porod