Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-09-18
THE NEAGLE CASE.

On the morning after the killing of d. S
Terry by Deputy United States Marshal
Neagle, the RECoRD-U UNION said that the
bare recital of the facts sapped the whole
case, and added:
These truths we assert without fear of suc
ees>ful contradiction, establish the justifable
meas of the act ofthe United States Marshal who
hred upon and killed Terry. We think there
VIII be no dispute among sensible men that a
Federal Circuit Judge, or a Justice of the Su
preme Bench, passing from one portion of the
Circuit to another in which either is required to
open Court and hear causes, and for the pur-
pose OF fully discharging his official duties is
while en- route In the discharge of an official
function, and constructively his Court is open,
TO the extent that an assault upon him-because
of matters pending in his Court or because OF
judgments he has rendered-is an assault upon
the Court, and his baiiif or marshal detailed to
attend the Court, has the same right to protect
him from assault then that he would have had
the Judge actually reached his Courtroom
But further than this we hold that in view of
the undeuiab)e fact that the Justice had knowl-
edge OF the fact that the Terrys, man and wife,
had sworn to puni-h him; that they had in
dulged N threats against him OF the most pro-
nounced character; that they had boarded a
train on which it is probable they knew he had
taken passage from one part of his circuit to
another IN his capacity as q magistrate; in view
OF the fact Terry sought the first opportunity to
approach and strike him, and that, too, when
seated; and in view of the notorious fact that
Terry always went aTmed-the man who shot
Terry would have been justified in doing SO had
ne not even been commissioned as an officer of
the Court.
And few days later the RECORD UNION,
having still more carefully weighed the
facts and considered the law, said
II was justifsbie homicide, if ever there was
such a case 1t was the act of an officer in the
discharge OF his sworn duty, and in fulflllment
instructions tn mn pt ha 70 of
OF the supreme Court of the Nation from menace
and assault for action taken by that Justice
while in the discharge of his duty.
The United States Circuit Court, hav-
ing heard all the testimony in an exami-
nation held under proceeding to inquire
into the restraint of Neagle's liberty, has
held Substantially as this journal claimed
IN the outset the law to be- The citation
is not made boastfully, but solely to illus
trate the truth that calm reasoning and in
accordance with the fundamental prin.
ciples underlying all human rights, must
lead the impartial mind to the same con.
clusion that the law reaches, which is the
fount and the essence of pure reason. The
Circuit Court holds that it has jurisdiction
to examine into the facts of cases on habeas
corpus, where the petitioner is held in GUS
tody for an act done or omitted in pursu-
ance Of a law of the United States That
the Marshal was acting in the line of his
duty under law of the United States
not statutory enactment but a traditional,
accepted and unquestioned law, handed
down contemporaneouslv with the Ter non
selptd, of which it is a part and parcel
That the Justice assaulted was in his Off
cial capacity in discharge of his duty in
passing from one part Of his district to an
other, and as much 50 as if in chambers
doing duty. Finally, that he was in dan.
ger Of his life, as also was Neagle; that the
State had not protected and was not protect
ing these men as they were entitled to be
protected, and that the MarshaI's act in
shooting Terry was Unsuitable and RICH,
action, he being then and there as much
"driven to the walp' as it was possible for
any man to be. We apprehend that the
sound good sense of the people of the
United States will approve the judgment
of the Court, and we do not entertain the
slightest doubt but that the decision dis
charging Neagle will be affirmed by the
Supreme Court of the United States.