The New York herald., 1870-02-09
A uADEAS CORPUS WAR.
Judge Mst,uRn Sends StatOm. Of tho Touts, to
TrasJ. Of Ludlow.
Warden Stacom Refuses to Obey an Order Of
Judge McCunn = His ssporiors Sustain
Him-The Judge Commands His Ar
rest = He 10 Taken to Lndlsw
Street Jall-The Issue Ex-
pectsd To-Day.

portant ease was being developed yesterday In tho
Superior Court, before Judge Mccunn. and VIII be
further ventilated before Judge Ingraham. in tho
Court OF Oyer ana Terminer. this morning.
IL iS habeas corpus case, In consequence OF
which the Keeper OF the City Prison. MIR. John sta
com, cot imprisoned himself There can 20 no doubt
that Judge McCunn has exceeded his authority al
though he has that much mis- side that the person
to whom the writ OF habeas corpus ISSUED 10 bound
to obey 1t and cannot Judge of It's force and efficacy
himself At any rate since this afYair has created
some attention among the general public 1t viii not
ba without interest to read
WHAT THE LAWYER HAS TO SAY.
IL breaks out afresh every year. after ntevreg-
mum. when some Judge undertakes to put the DIT In his
mouth. About threa years ago person sentenced
to Blackwcll's Island was brought up before Judge
Russell on nabeas corpus. so numerous had become
these wrts In respect to persons convicted that the
then District Attorney ana the present Mayor. A.
Oakey Hall, advised the Commissioners OF Charity
and Correction not to produce tho body but make
a return stating the conviction and that II was
nnal conviction. The abuse consisted In thls:-Par
Ties would apply to certain judges although they knew
that the writ OF haDeas corpus must he dismissed
when 1t came up for hearing but at the expense OF
the county 1t brought down the body OF the man or
the woman from prison Tor short airing; they had
sail down tho river, ana o ride free to court. and
saw their friends, and sometimes got little dinner
and sometimes ran away. The tLen District Attor-
ncy, A. Oagcy Hail. gave this advice because the
statute was peremptory tnat no court should issue
q writ or habeas corpus when II would appear by
the petition that he was detained by virtue Of the
fnal process OF court. and that H. OF course, the
return showed this, the judge was Immediately
without Jurisdiction, and that II was an unne-
cessary andi to some extent o dangerous piece
Of formality to produce the body In connection with
the ret urn. In the case alluded TO Judge Eussel,
howev or, attached the warden or the Penncntaly.
Mr.. Joseph kean for contempt In not producing the
body; wherefore Mr.. kean sued out writ or habeas
corpus before Judge In2rahan aud thar Judge DIS
charged hlm, holding that Judge kussel was wrong.
OF our legal ana political readers.
The General Term or the Supreme Court In the
stephen Ii. Branch libel case against John Anderson
distinctly he'd that discharge OF Branch, amer
nabeas corpus by Judge Cierke, was Illegal, aud
vertancy. The reason IL that when r man has been
tried by court there - another remedy to inquire
into the legality OF HI, detention which IS by cerilo
rari to the General Sessions from the Special
bencn ~ at " General Term; and II the
question Is grave one and the deteaion probably
wrong. the judges will see pending TIE appeal tiat
the prisoner loses rights IL would be i manlies.
hardship TO the people 10 have to try tnis oil
over again in neiterskeiter manner. without the
records being able 10 DC produced AZ the Judges
| Chambers on the haDeas corpus In the present
case tue Commissioners are pursuing precisely tne
course before Judge McCbnn tnat they pursued De-
fore Judge Russell.
The present District Attorney, also vigilant and
faithful onlcer fuftiers the course OF his predcces-
eor, and iGsst5 thai persons VINO nave been cJn-
vcted before court OF record, ana duly sentenced.
shall have The errora, II tnerc be any corrected ~
Que or law, by appeal under the provisions OF
the statute ana thas all the Judges not ony four
Giths OF hen vino DO so out OF illl know edge anc
/ nrt r.r utt.tn
riaIy lorDids them 10 issue, and Oy implication tC
belr any writ OF haoeas corpus when the appiica
ton or The return shows tna. the prisoner Is de-
| tanned by virtue OF u ilnll judgment.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT.
| John Ueferllan convicted IA the Court o
special Sessions on saturday last Tor assault and
battery committed upon the person or Jennie Coz
Inns. and was sentenced to ten days inprlsonmen
In the CITY Prison ano TO pay q Dne or twelLy-nv,
dollars and stand committed until pad. HIS attor
ncy applied 10 Judge McCunn for writ OF habeas
corpus obtained It, had 1t served on the onlccr
Vi tne City Prison. Under Inc Instructions referred
TO above the warden, Mr. Jonn Stacom, maze The
following retufn:-
John s.aeoa. warden Of the cy Prison In The city o.
haoeas corpus At 10 30 M fobrssry 4 sa re,nTn that
rssoncrs o Public Charities and oorfoeon By ue as ssI
warden Of CITY n ana y nsre under nnsl commitment
speoiuy decline 70 rodaee the body Of such nai
Respectfully snemttsa.
NEW foalA. teo. z, lsiD.
Judge McCunn oid not accept this return as saris
factory-lndeed. he VAS somewhat angry about Ii
| and Immediately ordere1 an attachment w lssg
against Mr.. Siacom Tor contempt OF court, givIn,
Ar. Stacom Time until yesterday morning at cleye,
O'Clock 10 produce the prisoner purge nALself o
ma contempt. The prisoner not 0eInx produce,
ye.tsrd.y mornlne-a. Mr. Stacom could not do Sc
uhder orders-Judge McCunn Issued an attachnlen
again5s Nj. Staccn, With an order To have nun dc
tsined uniil ho produces the prsoaer una6r tni,
ataCnment The prisoner was arrested anu conveyed
70 Ludlow Street jail, where he Is now counued
lno proceedings IN court-hoW all thIs happened
VIII be seen from the following ACCOUNT
above Mr 1tas nr0
was read ana some OBJECTIONS we're Inzde plstlic
Attorney Garyn produced the oiCial records ol INC
Court OF special ScssloDJ showing tnab the prisoner
h2d been duly convicted and was now ne!a under
taat conviction. lie also referred 10 the statute
winch proVines that IN such cases the Dstrci Aitor
ney snal pe entitled to two days notice os hearing
on the return To the writ; the statute also pro
nibito tho issuilg Of wrt OF Aaoeas corpus o. any
juige White tue court VI Oyer G4d Ierniner Ia
session, uless tIe Wit be MADE reLurlabIe befole
That court, 1t beng section twenty seven. On page
l,v5o III the tHlrd yO,ume vi the revived statutes
WHAT JUDlE &'Cu.Ss SAYS.
After hearing the argument Judge McCunn freely
expressed hiinseif that he woulJ not giye any
taG Wit Issued out Of his court, bearing sig
nature, should he ecsJed The keeper oi u prison
was not Judge. The man 10 whom the wrlt was
direcieu nao no right 70 Judge OF It's force cI
validity. All he mad 10 do was 70 obey IL. Aud lie
puGge McCannj would usc tue whole power OF The
court 10 nave The wits issued oi MS court en-
iorcea TO the extent of the law lo says sne Judge
may be wrong, but then hs action must be review "a
by higher court and not by the or pll ,on
and wao l5 ainenablo To nooo0y, II lie acts undei
the mandate ot the court 1hc Judge refused 10
near any argument. lie said that uness tue pri.
soner were Ia court he would not listen 10 aus thing
snce o6edcace 70 tho writ the FIRST .n.ns 10 10
had.
WRIT or ATTACHMENT
Mr. Stacom, nor his prisoner John Hencrran,
being forthcoming, writ oi attachment as Tor !,
Criminal contempt, was issnou against Ar. htacom,
thc warden or The Iombs. Just as Deputy sleulf
Patrlck Hanoufy, a5ous noon yesterday, proceed ed
" arrest Mr.. J0Dn SLicoai, at the JonDs h0 WIS
scrvei with writ OF haDeas corpGs, Waicn ordered
hiln 10 produces tue body oil Joln sacom before jus
tice nsraiaDl al naif-past ten O'Clock to-day. Inc
wut was Issued w Judge Cardo1o, and VIII Dc
oucyed.
Mr.. sTAcoM AT THE LUDLOW srRRgr JAIL.
Mr.. John stacon felt nilgSeiI quite comfortable as
tho Ludlow street Jan. Be.ng equal OF tue pEin-
cipal olicer there Of course he treated s aucn
and he had nothing 10 complain o. but tnas ne was
not allowed 20 leave the UGlItipg. 0tueTw Wise ne
lad everything Lnat his heart could wish, and.
despite the inconvenience or Deing dG6a.rea rom
gong On tno street, nc was az nappy could
pe. But hs was very non-comnuDlcatye lie SAID
tnat ne mad no per3onal interest In the Sht VAS
merely contest 10 Test the power OF cers.a courts
ana no, beng selected rs tue person over whose
head the courts were 10 1gnt IL out hp h4d &C
lnAn M M In lt.g nlFr .r -.