The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1867-10-07
THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN, MONDAY MORNING, 1867


was produosd according t6ths command Of Tho
writ issued by the State court and I am moi
aware that there has been any serious conflict Of
opinioa ss TO the Jurisdction Of y State court IA
Issue ana entertain the writ and enforce ODE.
disncsto Il 10 the point Of requiring a return
and the productions Of the body. The production
Of the body On hob>ss eo<yns has been said 10 b.
the life Of the vrft and ths cases IN which II
has been dispspssd with are few In number and
only admitted upsn the footing Of necessity. II
10 accordingly dispensed with where there 10 an
actual disability In the person 70 whom the writ
IL directed, from want Of possession or custody
Of the body or power 70 produce the body, OF
where the person detained Is 30 sick and Ian.
gushing .hs. he could NOT be produced without
ITO thss., which are the commonly received
exceptions, we may now add another. Upon the
authovity Of Ablsman W. Booth and the United
States 70. Booth, 81 Howard, 8. o. R., p. SOC.
whore the party for whose release the habea,
corpus 10 issued BY State court, 10 upon the re-
turn Of the officer having him in custody, shown
TO be imprisoned under judicial process Of the
United States the production Of the body before
the State court cannot DO required. These cases
were upon the following iaot Booth was In the
custody Of the United States BY process from .
commissioner, under We set Of Congre. Of Sep.
tember. 1850, on . charge Of having aided the
escape Of fugitive slsfe from deputy marshal
Of the United ststss who had the fugitive 10
judge Of the United States. Upon his spplica-
tion to one Of tho justices Of the Supreme Court
Of Virginia, within whose territorial Jurisdiction
no was confined, Q yrit Of h1beds corpus was
granted, to which the marshal made return that
be hsld Booth In custhy b virtue Of warrant
Of the commissioner, a.copy Of which he annexed
to and returned will the writ, and he also
brought Booth into cOrt according to tho com.
mand Of the court. $3.50.
Booth was discharged by the justice Of the
Supreme Court who srptsd the writ, and after.
wards upon cerfiorari 10 the Supreme Court Of
Wisconsin from this eisr Of discharge. Tho
decision on the ha6ea, orpas was affirmed.
''After Booths disohrge, an indictment was
found against him In he district court Of the
United States for th, district Of Wisconsin,
for tho same offence vkh which he was charged
before the commisionS, and upon trial Of the
Indictment, Booth W found guilty, and SON
fenced 10 be imprisoyd for one month, to pay
enc Of . thousand yllars and the costs, and to
I remain In custody util the sentence should DO
compl Cd with.
Three day, aftt this sentence, and while
Booth was undergoing his imprisonment, he
, made application u the supreme court Of Wis.
cousn Tor writ Of tabeas corpus alleging that
his imprisonment wa illegal on various grounds;
, and, among Others, because the fugitive slave
law was unconstitutional. Tho return made to
|, this writ was that Both had been committed 10
custody under the Ientence aforesaid, and with
. tho return the bodybf Booth was also produced.
Upon the hearing THE case, the supreme court
Of Wisconsin adj1dfd the imprisonment illegal,
and discharged 1odh from imprisonment and 70.
straint.
"Both these asS so decided BY the supreme
court Of wisoosiu were brought, upon writ Of
error, before th, 8preme Court Of the United
States, and the usments In both cases were re-
versed. The pohtlor decision was whether there
. was error In tb tdsments disoharging Booth
from imprisonlenl Tho Supreme Court Of the
, United States hsh that they ws.e erroneous
and that the Uded States commissioner had
/. full power TO ride Booth into custody; and II
there wore ny efect In tho exercise Of his
power, 1. was for The tribunals Of the United
} States to revie ID correct It, and not for the
! STATE court; md bat Is to the tentencs Of the
district court I'd exclusive and final jurisdio.
ito, BY the lsTs the United States, and that
neither the rgukity Of its proceedings nor the
, validity Of ID Science could be called 10 ques-
, tion In any dhscourt, either Of the State or Of
> the United STATS BY habsas corpus or BY any
8 "No qussiop as to the production or non.
+ production Of thbody Of Booth under the habeaJ
( corpus issued the State court arose in the
|. case. II was upn the final judgment Of dis.
y
b. decided"
In the cpipil the course Of proceedings on
hIbeas corpus I'm q State court, as TO o person
n Imprisoned upt the authority Of the United
u ststes, Is thus stsd 1--WE do mot question the
Z authority Of sts court or judge, who 10 au.
I thorized BY the la~s Of the State TO Issue tho
writ OF habeas co1 to issue II In any case whore
Z the party Is im,rbnsd within Its territorial
II limits, provided Il Yes not appear whom the sp-
4 plieat!on Is made III the person imprisoned Is
= In the custody unf authority Of the United
0 States Tho court Judge has q right to ir.
r quire 10 this mode proceeding for what cause
4 and by what suthory the prisoner Is confined
If within the territorid limits Of the State soyer
1 eighty, and 1t Is thcuty Of tho marshal or other
n person having the cuody Of tho prisoner to make
q known to the judge court, BY proper return,
n the authority by With he holds him In custody.
., This right TO inquir,by means Of habeas corpus
ID and the duty Of thpficorJ b make q return,
y grows necessarily ou Of the complex character
n Of our Government and the existence Of two
Of distinct and sspartS soysrdgntiss within the
same territorial sps cash o. them restricted In
/, presc. ibsd by the Constitution Of the United
,r States, independentpf the otter. But after tho
% rsturn Is made and he State Judge or Court ju.
II 'dicially aprIistd tht the Prty 10 In custody
" unde- the authorityof the United States, they
eau proceed no further. Thy then know that
tho pri;oner 10 within the dpninion and under
q. the Of alother gSerrmsnt, and that
" neither the wit Of hbep opus nor any other
ID process is,ued unds Btatekuthority can pass
n. over the lire Of dividon betten the two sove.
to reignti.l He 10 thsa With the dominion and
to exclusive jurlsd,et,n OF he United States
or II he has committed offence against
al their laws, they alone can punish him
On If he Is wropglully inpristed, these tribunall
It, eau relea.e him aud adoi him redress. And
b., although, as We have said, 70 the duty Of thu
p. MARSHAL or other person plding him to max,
to known by proper returnhe authority undei
ot which he dets,ns him, 1t ut tho same time i'm
: peratively his duty to ot the process Of TIT
~ United States to hold thPrisoner In custody
L. under II, and to refuse obj to the mandat,
Tor or process Of any other gernment. And con
N sequently 1t 10 his duty ndto take the prisoner
IN. or suffer him to be taksnbefore State judg,
en- or court upon hzbtss .OAis issued under Stat,
on authority No State tds or court, after the,
he are judicislly informsdtk the party Is impris
oned under tho authoitj Of the United States
mt has any authority 70 hSrfere with him or t,
ed require him to DO brouhl before them. And
70. the authority Of . Stat p the form Of judioia
ms process or otherwise sblld attempt to contro
ed the marshal or other atlpr.Ied officer or sgen
10, Of the United States iitny respect In the Gus
es tpdy Of his prisoner II build DO bis duty to resis
pm 1t and call to his aid ny force that might b
10 necessary to maintain he authority Of the la'
he against illegal interference. No judicial Pre-
rcd cess, whatever form II ~ assume, can have an