, 1876-02-23
THE COURTS.
Judge Tipton's Contempt Caso
Disposed or;
And the Defendants Ordered Released
and Declared 1lRmeles1.
Cuses on Uearlng...Record Of Judgments
and New Suits
THE CONTEMPT CASE.

Tie argument of tho petition Of sfeasrs. Rob-
srts and Crawford for habeaa corpus. which wts
adjourned Monday mornspg. camo up yesserdAy
before Judge Drummond
Mr.. noed opened tho argument, saying thes
tlo wrlts issued after tho contompt and he
thought under thS docaiona OF tho United
Btasos Courts themselves. Tho only ground on
which rellef could bc claimed wss under tho pro-
Visions of Tho late nAbcas Corpus act, which
pald: "Or is In custody for an act dono or
omitted in pursuance Of tho law Of tho United
BtatoB Courts" Tho gentlemen bad Another
rendedy II they we're punished by Judge Upton
to appeal to tho Bnpromo Court, and, II tho
decision was there affirmed, to appeal to tho
United Stated Courts.
bIr. ". 8. Coy followed. he said tho matter
OF contempt had been Alroady adjudtcAted In
The glato Court, md the Fedcrnl Court could not
q. as court of roviow. 1t had boon decided In
tho pprr cnae that tho Federal Courts could not
issup q writ Of hnbeas CORPUS tn tako I prisoner
from tho 1rrtA0ct!on OF 1 4tato Court.
Judge Dfummoud said he thought tho quca-
tou in the case was whether tho defendants who
were arreBted wcro Obliged to talo tho oa.o to
tha Supreme Court Of tho State, and thon II they
could take 1t 10 tho Supreme Court Of the United
Btntos. Tho Bnpromo Court of tLo etato bad
hcld that II had jurisdtotion Of contempt cascs.
Mr. Coy suggested that tho shortest way was
to answor before the HtAto Court.
Tue Judge inquired whether the State Court
had not already dectded tho question.
Mr.. Coy did not know.
been transferred to tho Fedcrnl Court, and a
lawyer proceeded to 10 what ho considered
right, aud was punished for the o1orcisp Of that
right, what was to bo donor What rsmedy was
there? Was tho Federal Court paramount in
such case, or was u oblgod to wait for tho
Judgment ct tho State Gourt7 Could it not
protect tho members Of tho Bar In tho exercise
Of power given by act Of Congresa7 Tho
Court waa not untitled to decide wl,ethor tho
case had boao properly transferred or not,
and. on that gentleman replying that ho
had aofue doubts en- tho R1bjecs, Judge
Ma1oh, 1876, enlarging tho Jurisdiction Of
tho Fedora! Courts, and showed clearly that
tho latter tribunal had the powcr to paBB On tho
question, lIe then went on to state that lo had
bloomington. the Judge. and sherlfr, and aino to
the Attorney-Gencrhl, a. It was q question Of
apparent conflict betwoen tie Federal Court and
tbo State authosities. lilo hnd no tlosiro 10 i'll
lerfere With legal and proper course in tho
whether the Federal Uourt was not entitled to
protect tho mombors Of tho Bar who were In tho
performance Of q duty under mn net Of Cou-
gross. 30 far AZ tho Federal statute operated
was paramount oyor any othor authority on the
subjOok. It Was expressly made 30 by common
couBent. Ths citizons Of MoLean County, al well
"a thoao Of Cook County, had consented thereto.
Al! wczn b0lud by that Constitution, and mono
could contfhveno 1t without doing injury to that
which mado them common country. Tho Fed
erAl judges did not doslro 10 Interfere with tho
btase Jurisdiction, nor did they SOCK jnrisdlo-
tiou. Was there any other Way IN which tho
gentlemen could bo protected3 Ought thoy to
so back to tho Circuit COURT Of McLenn County,
whore tholr case Lad beon decided and they
found guilty, Without hoaring7 They had
hmm Cuftv ~ rop} nrfa ar1 ia ttey1
was whether the Federal Court ought not 10 pro-
tect its o0ioeta-for msmbers Of the Dar vara lis
of1lcera.
Tho present casc WAS very unusual oircum-
stRnco, tho Judge said, but he had given tho
subject good deal Of consideration. He h4d
had similar oaHo In Indiana, and, after full
argument ho had held that writ Of habeas
corpus WAS tho proper remedy.
et Springfield might not have Jurisdiction, but it
was very easy to takc stepa to asoortatn. It was
competent to 20 before the Court at Springfield,
snd bring to the notlca Of tho Judge there any
thing that would deprive him Of Jurisdiction,
and, II he wha Of opinion that ho had no jurs-
diction, ho would remit tho caso to tho Mclean
County Circuit Court. Such conflicts Of 1urls-
dlction wero always unpleasant. but they could
The rule undoubtedly was that generally, no
court would intorfore With Anothor In question
Of contemps. That was matter which remained
exclusively with tho Court where the alleged
S~Atab4Ft tQA44llkttAs Duk AAo p1GhSAk was
an exceptional case. This was case whoro
IN act was douc undor IN Rot Of
Congresa, and pun!ahment had been
Imposed for An act done In pursuhuco Of law.
It ccrtaInly wns an exception to tho general rulc.
0therwipa partieB might bo imprisoned and kopt
there indefinitely without any relief, or at any
rate for long series of years. as It took long
time to tako the caso to the Supreme Court OF
United States.
Tic facts. therefore, IN tho petitions rcrnain.
ing nncoutroyortcd, and the right to tho rrio
being clear under tho lnw, tho Judge held that
tho petitioners were entitled to their discharge,
aud rulo would be entered diacharglng them
FROM custody.
The dectsiou seemed to be expected by all.
and lndood tho oppoastlon Of MoaHrs. Coy and
Heed was worry fesblo. In fact, Afr. Reod &C.
knowledgcd that in Ala opinion the Court had
Jurisdiction II tue potiuons wero truo. Attor-
ney-0eneral Edsa)l waa pteBont, but, for some
reason boat known TO himself, made no romarkH
mhateyor. 1t is probable that tho other gentle
mon who have been arrested at Bloomington At
Judge Tipton's INSTANCE will ba now diseGargad.