Litchfield enquirer., 1878-02-14
Arrests by Private Persons.

be found in another column complains bitterly of Judge Martins sentence of theatramp who shot Mir Wyant at Washington. He asks many pertinent questions about the right of ar- res. of criminals by private persons, and re- fers to lynching as a natural resort of the citl- due protection of law.
 New England people will certainly be very 10th to appeal to any of the irregular modes of mob justice pract;ced in ruder communities. If more laws are needed they can readily be passed, and the machinery of the law can be made effective, provided only people will take the trouble to learn what our laws are, and to enforce them properly. Take the Wyant case, for instance. It strikes us that if MT. Mallet had made the demand of Craig which the law allows him to make, the subsequent proceed ings, and the tramp's arrest, would have been lawful even without a warrant, and the shoot ing would have been an attempt to murder without 6 shadow of justification, instead of mere attempt to kill, provoked by an attempt at illegal arrest. A statute passed in 1870 (Chap. 75) provides as follows:
 Whenever any transient person shall apply to any individual residing in this state to give him food, lodging clothing or money, the in- dividual to whom such application shall be 1sadc, may require the applicant to perform a reasonable amount of labor for such food, lodging, clothing or money; and, if the same be furnished, nsay detGin hina usstI such IGbor is performed, but not beyond the hour of elev- .-g1l s~8 8kn off fha dau aurrAp6. ing his application and if such applicant shall neglect or refuse to perform such labor, being suited to his age, strength, and capacity, or shall wilfully injure the person or property of the individual requiring the labor, he shall be deemed a vagrant and shall be committed to any town work house, or any county work. house in the county where the offence shall have been committed; or in case there be no such work-hoase in the town or county, then to the common jail in the county, for period not less than thirty days, nor more than six months; and until the costs of prosecution against him be paid and upon second con- viction of such transient person for similar offence he shall be committed to such work house or common jail for period not less than four months, nor more than year and until the costs of prosecution be paid.
 The statute proceeds to give the right of ar- TG86luk 8ucu H8ublSub pCIbO1J WcUONV ""- rant, to any sheriff, constable, selectman or grand juror, of the town, or to any executive officer of city, within their precincts; and, by e third section, it is provided that ''The select menOf any town may appoint one or more special constables in each school district in such town to carry out and enforce the provisions of this act"
 We are inclined to think that if instead of demanding money, Mir. Mallett had required labor of Craig, and the latter had refused to be detained and set to work as provided by the above law, the subsequent pursuit and at tempted arrest would have been legal and Craig's resistance an attempt to murder The foregoing statute excited some interest at the time of itsrpassage. but has lapsed to a great degree out of the public memory, and it is probable that Mr. Mallctt was not aware of his rights under it, on the occasion of Craig's ap- plication for food. Nor have we ever heard of any appointment by the selectmen of our towns of the special constables authorized by this statute. Would it not be advisable then for the citizens and selectmen of Washington and other towns, to inform themselves of their rights as regards vagrants under existing laws, to appoint special constables, and to take the legal steps for detaining transient persons applying for assistance, before appealing from Judge Martin to Judge Lynch?
 There does seem a necessity, however, to define and extend the right of arrest without warrant now allowed private persons. That right is now confined to cases where felony has been committed and there is probable ground for supposing that the person arrested is the offender. There are no statute felonies in Connecticut. Only the crimes known to the English law as felonies at the time of the emigration of our ancestors to this country are deemed such by our law. The distinction thus made leads to some absurd results. For instance Swift's Digest (vol 2 page 2S4)speci- iies only six offences as coming under that head; murder, manslaughter, arson, robbery, burglary and theft It is only the crime itself, not the attempt to commit it, which consti- tutes a felony. One cannot legally arrest a fellow who shoots at him with pistol with out warrant but one may arrest without war rant a person who has stolen hens egg from his yard One may arrest without warrant man who burns a dwelling house, but not man who burns . store; for the burning of store is not usually arson at common law. If Swift's list of felonies is complete (which we very much doubt), Wysnt could not have legally arrested Craig, without warrant, for committing rape, forgery, or perjury, or for attempting murder, arson or robbery, while the pettiest theft would have justified such an arrest Would it not be much more sensible to give private persons the right ofarrest with out warrant for State Prison offences. A simple statute making all offences punishable with imprisonment in the State Prison felo- uies, and reducing all others to the grade of misdemeanors, would not only greatly simpli- fy the existing law of arrests but would make 1t much more just and reasonable.
 While the citizens power of arrest remains limited to certain common law offences, and does not apply to many of our equally serious statute crimes the officers power of arrest without warrant has been increased to what we cannot but regard as a dangerous extent. On page 34 of our General Statutes we find the following:
 sRC. 3-Sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, eonstaileS, borough Dalifrs, police OI11CrIs, and TaiIrvasI and steamboat police, in their respective pre- cinta, shall arrest, without previous complaint and warrant. any person for any offence in their jurisdiction. when the offender shall be taken or npprehended iD the net, or on the speedy Information of others and all persons ss arrested shall be immediately presented be- fore proper authority.
 Here the officers former right of arrest with out warrant for felony, or on suspicion of fel- ony W, for breach Of the peace. profane sweating. drunkenness or Sabbath brealdng in his presence is extended to all rnisdemeanors; committed withiH his jurisdiction, whether withiB or out of his presence. A Barkhamsted constable might arrest . citizen for driving faster than Q walk over bridge, upon mere