Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-09-16
LEGAL NONSENSE.
Oar Reporter Exposes SEINE Tricks
Of the Trade.

OF tno Trade.
About the most laughable thing in the
world to a man who has studied law is
that which is known as legal technical
ity. The outside world may hear the
thing discussed but know nothing Of the
nonsense and humbug that often lies
hidden behind it. Our reporter who
made law a study in years past attended
the bearing of the Turpin habeas corpus
case before Judge Halsey, of the Second
Circuit Court, yesterday. The question
involved was, whether or not Judge Ray,
in a former habeas corpus case, had
passed upon and had examined into the
warrant ahd mittimus issued BY Esquire
Winters. 10 order to fully understand
the merits Of the case and legal hum
buggery that surrounds it, we present
the following brief history:
g. W. Turpin, aged sixteen years,
killed a Radical carpet-bagger named
Williams, near St. Charles, Arkansas,
eighteen months ago, because the Winnie.
bago Radical insuited and struck his
aged mother. A Radical deputy sheriff
from Arkansas county, Sam McCarty,
who for some time since has been out of
office and out Of funds, saw Turpin in
this city and had him arrested in order
to get a reward of 5000. Turpin was
carried before Esquire Winters and COM
mitted for twenty days so that McCarty
could have time to go back to Arkansas
and get a requisition. Turpin was
brought before Judge Ray on writ of ha-
beas corpus and the Judge decided to
discharge him on the return Of Chief
Athy, but on Esquire Winters warrant
and mittimus being handed to him, he
made an order turning Turpin over to
the Sheriff for custody under the war
rant.
When the second writ, of habeas cor
pus was on hearing before Judge Halsey
yesterday it was commended by counsel
that the order of Judge Ray as made in
the former case was conclusive, as it i'm
piled that Judge Ray had Investigated
the legality of the issuance of the war
rant and mittimus by Esquire Winters,
because Judge Rays order was suscept-
IDLE of that construction, although in
fact Judge Ray made no such investiga.
ton, and did neither investigate nor pass
upon the in which this curious
proceeding had been determined by
Esquire Winters. Judge Halsey was
about to dismiss the case when one OF
the prosecuting counsel got up aud ad-
mitted that no such Investigation had
been had before Judge Ray, although
the order as made by the Judge indi-
Gated such to be the fact. Judge Ray
also appeared in Court and admitted the
same fact. Here was a legal subtility, a
fiction of law and fact which, because ii
was written down, was sufficient to de.
feat the application of a citizen re.
strained of his liberty, for the great
writ called the habeas corpus, and he
was about to be sent to Jail for twenty
days on account Of an incorrect order or
one not carefully written.
Law is comically said to be "tbe per.
lection Of reason, q rule of action com
handing what is right and prohibiting
what is wrong" but the trouble
with the law is that it is surrounded
with musty cobwebs, legal techni
c%alitieS Of the red-tape order, that sc
hamper the above old definitions given
by Blackstone that it has become in
many instances the perfection Of hum.
bug and a rule of action prohibiting
what is right and sustaining what is
wrong.