St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-13
rERRY,s TRIBuLATIoNs.
The Supreme Court Decides That
Sarah Aithea's Spouse Must
Serve His Sentence.

Sarah Althea'S spouse Must
Serve His Sentence.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12.-The supreme
court to-day rendered an adverse deci-
sion in the somewhat celebrated case Of
ex-Judge Terry, of California, upon his
application for habeas corpus, in
which he alleges that he is unlawfuily
imprisoned, under an order of the
United States circuit court for the
Northern district of California, in the
i5ail of Alameda county. After present.
/ ing the case made by the application,
! the decision says: "What then are the
JTrounds upon which the petitioner
DcIaims the circuit court was without
sjurisdietion to make the order commit
eting him to jail? They are:
aI First-That the order was made in his abb
+Ssence
f Second-That it was made without his
having any previous notice of the Intention
I of the court to take any steps whatever In re-
ilation to the matters referred to in the order.
Third-That it was made without giving
him any opportunity of being first heard in
defense Of the charges therein made against
him.
= The second and third of these grounds
may be dismissed as immaterial in any
inquiry which this court is at liberty.
upon this original application to make.
For upon the facts recited in the order
of commitment; showing
A CASE OF CONTEMPT
committed in the face of the court
which tended to destroy it's authority
and to embarrass and obstruct its busl-
ness by violent methods. the petitioner
was not entitled of absolute right of
either to demand a trial or to notice, by
rule, of the courts intention to proceed
against him, or. any opportunity to
make formal answer to the charge con-
tanned in the order of commitment"
The decision says 1t is undoubtedly a
general rule that a sentence pronounced
against party-wlthout hearing him
or giving him an opportunity to be
heard-iS not judicial determination
of his rights, and is not entitled
to respect in any other tribunal,
but declares that there is another
rule which is equally vital
to personal liberty and to the preserva-
ton of organized society. 1t has rela-
ton to the class of contemptS which,
being committed in the face of a'court,
imply purpose to destroy its author
ity or TO insult or to intimidate those
charged with the duty of administering
the law. Numerous authorities and
presidents are cited upon which the de-
cision concludes that it was competent
for the circuit court Immediately upon
the commission in its presence of the
contempt recited in its order of Sept. 8.
1855, to proceed upon Its own knowledge
of the facts, and imprisOn the offender
without further proof and without issue
or trial in any form, and says: ut was
not bound to hear any explanation OF
his motives if it was satisfied from what
occurred under its own and within its
hearing, and that
THE ENDS OF JUSTICE
demand immediate action, and that no
explanation could mitigate his offence
or disapprove the fact that he had COM
mitted such contempt as deserved in
slant punishment. Whether the facts
really Justify such punishment was for
the circuit court to determine. Its con-
cluSiOn upon such facts is not open to
inquiry or review in this collateral pro-
ceeding." As to the affirmation that
the order of Sept. 8 was void, because
it was maid in the absence of the petit
toner. the decision says: 'JuriSdictiOn
of the person of the petitioner attached
instantly upon the contempt being COM
united in the presence of the court.
That Jurisdiction was not surrendered,
nor was it lost by any unreasonable
delay in exercising the power to pro-
eeed, without notice and proof,
/ to immediate punishment. The alb
,sence of the petitioner from the court
room in another room nearby. in the
same building, at the tine the order
was made. was his voluntary act. The
petitioners misbehavior IN the presence
of the court, his voluntary leaving. the
court room. his going into the marshal's
room, and the making of the order of
commitment, was in substance one oc-
casion. They constituted, in legal
action. and the jurisdiction or the court
to enter an order for the Offenders ar
rest and Imprisonment, was as full and
complete as when he was in the court
room in the Immediate presence OF the
jtidges."
Decision of Justice Harlan.