The San Francisco call., 1897-11-15
q0RRENCE
ON RECENT
DECISIONS
De Haven and Morrow
Praised by the San
Diegan.
MURDERERS MAY BE
ONlSH ED.
Supreme Court of the State,
He Says, Alone Stands
in the Way.
MISTAKES OF EXECUTIVE
OFFICIALS.
Frightened by Legal SarecroWs
Manufactured to Protect
Cr mlnalS.
Supreme Court of the State,
He Says, Alone Stands
in the Way.
OF EXECUTIVE
OFFICIALS.
Frightened by Legal Sarecrows
Manufactured to Protect
Criminals.
Special Dlspatch to THE CALL

SAN DIEGO, Nov 14.-The following
question was propounded to Judge E. S,
Torrance tonight:
'What do you think OF the decision of
Judges Morrow and De Haven in the
Durrant case and what will be its effect
He replied as follows: The people of
thi, State scarcely realize the supreme
Importance of the recent decision OF the
United States Circuit Court at San Fran
cisco denying Durrant's last application
for writ of habeas corpus. 1t means
that the abuse of the process of the Fed
eral courts in California by habeas corpus
lawyers has received its final quietus. 1t
means that convicted murderere have
ceased TO stay the hands of criminal JUS
tice in this State by perverting the use OF
the great writ Of human liberty, which
was alone designed for the liberation of
person, unlawful!y confined. The deci-
sion tears out by the very roots thi
vicious practice, and il came so suddenly
that audac:ous counsel stood dumfounded
al the complete collapse of their favorile
scheme for defeating the ends of justice.
"The Circuit Court holds that where no
Federal question is involved no appeal
lies from the order refusing The writ. The
conclusion necessarily follows that in such
a case there can be no stay OF proceedings
in the State court or under State author
ity. Nlnety-nine per cent of the app!ica-
tions hitherto made for the writ where the
petitioner was in custody under the judg-
ment of a criminal court have been wholly
destitute of merit and have been uni
formly denied ty the Federal courts; but,
unfortunately, appeals have been allowed,
and it has been uni u >tly claimed that the
appeals taken stayed the hands of the
Stale couris. If no Federal question
was presented and no supersedeas allowed
it is legally and logically absurd to say
that the jurisdiction Of the State courts
was ousted, or for one moment was ar
rested or suspended. Congress has not so
enacted, and If it had, its act would be
void Tor lack of constitutional power.
The defeat of justice SO far has re-
suited not so much from the laws DELAY
as from the lack of official discern M ent
and stamina in the executive officers of
tire State. whose duty it was to execute
the mandates OF the State courts. The
legal scarecrows manufactured by law
yers, oblivious of their professional obi
cations, have frightened these officials
from the discharge of their duty, while
the people stood amazed-not that the
writ of habeas corpus had bee suspended
in times of peace, but that by some legal
legerd emain that writ had been given the
efficacy of wholly suspending the execu-
tion of the criminal laws Of the State
against the crime of murder.
ma efactors sneered and jeered at the
futile efforts of the State courts to punish
capital offences. A friend of mine said 10
me the other day, IN be hanged if the
law can hang Durrant or Ebanks' Un-
les the Supreme Court OF the State fol-
lows the precedent esta blished by the
Federal Court OF San Francisco | think
my frienu Will die natural DEATH