The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-03-17

from ,heyv IA ions II follows that any negro o.
Halted scisi can remove bus case rom ~,
sie ec.' o. bIs sms'h NC ' SsrcS and IN
prssonex Tor d. charging bis duty IN sccores ,sr
WITH sbe ia~s OF Ms State Frsdertessesrg s1s a1
<nousS "A they let vs. not make them w"' -
than y are, We shall scare our new ,uu ,e co ~
siI,tvn Dispatch.
We tell the Dispatch that the Star Is SUP.
staHtiaily right. The decisions am,n' VI.
newer IN Congress to enact law TO 90 lusl
what the Star states. IL Is true tue COURT
held that the act OF Congress as now eSis',
Eng IA no. broad enough 10 cover the case o,
an attem pted removal for trial OF criminal
case In the state that the Reynolds case was
in. But 4, held that Judge Coles was liaoie
10 trial in the Federal court upon tnc in'
dlc,mept that had been found against MN
md II held that whenever Il suited Inc plea
sure OF Congress To do so II might make ~
statute broader than II IL, ana make VI cove.
the Reynolds case, or any otner case tna' y
Thought necessary to secure 10 chlzehs ens
equal protection OF the laws Coms'o''
sce0ith.
And we tell the Commonwealth lbst II Is
totally mistaken. and ouiy gives aid ana
comfort to ReSdIusier county judges when
Il makes such statements as are ceuta'ue"
in the above paragraph. The deesions uo
not affirm the power ia Congress 20 enact
law either 10 remove case from any o's'e
court on simple afiaavlt. nor tsat stale
iudge can be dragged from the bench ana
punished for any act periormee Dv nim Is
A iudgc. II there are such afiirmalions
in the opinion OF the Supreme Court in TIE
COLES case or in the Patrick-cnunty case,
they have eludsd our most careful eXani'
nation OF those opinions. we guess tna'
the Commonwealth has based its sweeping
assertions upon sy Ilabus, rather than upon
the language OF the Court itself. III not,
that iourual will OF course furnish the ne
cessiry extracts to substartiate those asser'
tions. bile, we propose to run oveI
those opinions from besinning to end, and
tell the reader lst what they contain, II we
have read them correctly.
We begin with The COLES case. The
Court states what he was indicted for--nanae
liz, for excluding negroes from iuries "or
account OF their race, color. and Previous
condition 81 servitude.' II then discusses
the question OF jurisdiction, and comes te
the conclusion that there need be no dou bt
that the Court has jurisdiction to award tb'
writ OF Adteds 'cOrp,s- Ii then comes Ia
"the merits OF the CAGE" and aflirms bread
ly that 1.-The whole merits OF the case are
involved In the question whether the act
of Congress Is constitutional. The Cour
next argues that point, and reaches the con-
clusion that the act Is warranted by The
Constitution. And it "was not denied y
by Judge Col s's counsel that he was pro
perly held 10 custody to answer the indic,'
ment II the act OF Congress was so war.
ranted.
The Court says that the acts Of the States
agents are the acts Of the State; but the
persons, not the State, are responsible; that
it does not perceive bow holding State Of
flee can relieve a man from the obligation
TO obey the Constitution of The United
States. Ii then closes as follows in Ian
guage which clearly and emphatcallv dis
claims that Judge CofEs was TO be punish
ed for judicial act. We quote:
alt was insisted during the argument on
behalf OF the petitioner that Congress cam
not punish a Siute Judge for bis Official
acts, and il was assumed that Judge Coles,
in selecting the jury as he did, was per-
forming a judicial act. This assumption
cannot be admitted. Whether the act done
by him was iudiciai or not Is to be deter
mined by It's character, ar d not by the cha
racter OF the agent. Whether he was a
s,,J.r l. Of rfo
The duty OF selecting Jurors might AS well
have been committed to private person as
to one holding the Office Of judge. 1t
often Is given to county commissioners, or
supervisors, or assessors. In former times
the selection was made by the sheriff. In
such cases 1t surely Is not judicial act in
any such sense as is coDtended for here. 1t
is merely ministerial act, as much so as
the act Of sheriff holding an execution,
In determining upon what piece OF property
he will make levy, or the act OF a roadmaS
ter i'm selecting lab0rers to work upon the
roads. That the Jurors are selected for
court makes no difference. So are court
criers, tipstaves, sherifis, &c. Is their cleo
ton or their appointment judicial act?
"But IL the selection OF Jurors could be
considered in any ease judicial act, can
the act charged against the petitioner be
considered such when he acted outside Of
his authority, and In direct violation OF the
spirit OF the State statute! That statute
gave him no authority, when selecting iu-
rors from whom panel might be drawn
for a circuit court, TO exclude all colored
men merely because they we're colored.
Such an exclusion was not left within the
limits OF his discretion. IL Is IDLE, there
fore. to say that the act OF Congress is un-
constitutional because it inficts penalties
upon State judges for their judicial action.
1t does no such thing"
II there are In the opinion any careless
expressions that claim the power to punish
judges for judicial acts, this last-quoted
language negatives the idea that the Court
intended to claim such power, as appears
still more clearly from the opinion in the
Patrick-county case. Instead OF deciding
that Judge COLES could be punished for per-
forming judicial act in obedience to the
State law, the Court expressly denies that
il has done any such thing.
Now, for The opinion in the Patrick
county case. The Court first recites the
facts. II then declares that IL the petition
fled before trial and duly verified exhibited
ga sufficient ground" for removal al. SUBJ
seqnent proceedings in the State court were
''absolutely void" That Is no new de-
cision, as the Court quotes several prece-
dents mot under the same law). But the
Court then asks whether The petition did
exhibit "su1icient ground I" for removal
whether il set forth "Such facts" mot
simple affidayil) rs made case for removal.