The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1866-08-25

The Supreme Court Of this Territory rem
dered an important decision. recently 10 The
case of the People vs.. John Williams, in
dicted for highway robbery, charged to have
been committed III Boise county, September
1853. The Court holds that at that time nc
criminal code existed ia this Territory; AMI
as no statute existed Furnishing the offender
no sentence can be pronounced.
| The following from the Statesman, includes
the decision of the Judges Mcbride and
CumminsJ upon this point:
| Having disposed Of these preliminary questions
it remains to be decided whether there was any
law for the punishment of defendant for the Of
Tense charged i'll the indictment. On the Sd day
OF March, 1868, Congress organized the Territory
of Idaho by cutting of certain Territory from the
aread, organized Territories OF v ashington. Da
cotan, Nebraska and Utah. The Territory oil
idaho then became separate political conlmuni
| ty, AID the power of government, OF making and
reinforcing statutes-of preserving the rights of the
people and furnishing wrongd0ers, was vested in
the citizens OF such Territory in the manner pre-
scribed by the Organic Act. g Did this segregation
OF the Territory of Idaho from the other TerrIto>
ries named, leave it without auy criminal code
II undoubtedly was repeal OF the raIorganic
acts named they no longer had any form va
lldty-had been superseded and become utilities
How they could cease to exist. and yet laws re.
main force deriving their validity from authority
conferred by them, we cannot understand. 1t
would be to extDguish the fountain, and insist
upon the rlVulet continuing its fow-cutting of
the source OF life and affirming continued vitality
70 provide against any such hiatus in the crimi-
nal code where there is transition from one form
OF government to another, it is always provided
that the remedies shall subsist in full force. Thus
In organizing State Government, the universal
practice is to continue, by special provision, the
pre- existing laws; sc IN organizing new Terrific
RES the usual provision is To continue the laws of
the old political division until the enactment of
new ones.
In organizing the Territory of Oregon in 1913,
Congress affirmed and cont nued the laws OF the
former provisional government until they should
be altered or repealed. The uniform practice, in
this repect, conclusively establishes, think, the
principle that the laws of the old organization
less by special provision. We are now speaking
only Of criminal laws. In civil matters the ques-
ton OF rights and remedies are 50 different that
the same rules do not necessarily apply.
In the act organizing this Territory no provi.
sion is contained recognizing the former laws.
Indeed to have done SO would have been to have
given vitality to four different codes of laws-in
different parts of the new Territory. Confusion
would have followed inet itably aud the fact OF
this difficulty sufficiently accounts for the Omis-
sion, the part Of Congress- to provide for their
continuance until the new Legislature should pro-
vide for the wants of the country.
There IS 10 similarity between this case and
that of conquered or cede6 Territory whose
sovereignty is transferred from one authority TO
another. Then laws pass with the people aud
the Soil-but not so when the sovereign authority
dlsmembers piece of Territory and makes no
provision for the new community.
We are, therefore, of opinion that there wa s no
statute Furnishing the offence charged iu this in
dictment at the time it was alleged to have been
committed, and that even if the facts alleged be
true, no sentence could be pronounced. The
judgment of the Court below will therefore be
afiiriped.