The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-02-16

JAIL NJ USE
Not if Chun tloon's Pea
for Liberation Be
Sustained.

| William Henry, High Sheriff of the
| Territory, is commanded by Judge d.
| Bolt. through a writ of habeas corpus
| to produce in court at o'clock this
morning the body of Chun Hoon, ''wh,
is unjustly restrained of his liberty
| and imprisoned, as it is said, to do ant
receive what shall then and there be
considered concerning him in this be-
half"
Through this process A. S. Hum
phreys and George D. Gear, former
Circuit Judges, as attorneys for the
petitioner, Chun Hoon, are attacking
the mode and the means of the Terri
tory of Hawaii and the County of Oahu
for the punishment of persons convict
ed OF misdemeanors, as the following
abstract of the petition shows:
Petitioner represents that he is i'm
prisoned by respondent under "a pre-
tended mittimus" issued by District
Magistrate Whitney. A copy of the
mittimus attached shows that on Feb.
8 petitioner was sentenced to one
years Imprisonment and payment of
costs of court for conducting che ia
lottery. He says the judgment and
mittimus are void because they do not
designate any place where he should be
imprisoned also because the judgment
was not based upon verdict of guilty
by a jury-contrary to the Third Ar
ticle of the u. S. Constitution.
Further he alleges that his convic-
ton by the magistrate without Il jury
was contrary to the Fifth Amendment
to the Constitution, and therefore is
null and void. 1t was criminal
prosecution" besides, within the mean
ing of the Sixth Amendment, and
hence by its nature void. Then he was
tried and convicted without Indictment
of a grand jury, Notwithstanding that
the alleged crime was punishable by
a fine of not more than one thousand
dollars or imprisonment at hard labor
not exceeding one year" SO that the
punishment which might be inflicted
under the provision is Infamous and
the crime likewise, within the mean
ing of the Fifth Amendment
Again the sentence is alleged to be
a nullity because the judgment and
nittimus require petitioner to be i'm
prisoned, whereas under section 3179
of the Revised Laws of Hawaii he can
only be imprisoned at hard labor
Next, Honolulu Jail comes in for OBJ
lection to it's hospitality by Chun Hoon
It is arbitrarily designated by the
above name he says, but, as he AYERS,
1t lis in fact part of Oahu Jail, the
latter being the Territorial penitentia-
~ in which are confined all manner of
'elons convicted of infamous crimes
under the laws of said Ttrritory, in |
Guiding persons under sentence of
death" Then follows long array of
of Honolulu jail as part |
md parcel of the Territorial peniten- |
lary-Such as the same wardenship |
'ver both places held by the High |
Sheriff. identical means of ingress and |
egreSS, the passage of Honolulu Jail |
5risoners through the initiatory de- |
srees of the penitentiary photograph |
ng, registering, etc., their numbering |
with felons on the war;
lens list, the substitution of prison |
sarb for citizens apparel similar diet
try of coarse food and treatment alike |
# sick prisoners Of both Jail and peni-
ent1ary, etc. The only difference be-
ween the penitentiary and the jail
prisoners is that the former class has |
o do hard labor and the latter class |
las not
Finally, the petitioner alleges that
ne classification or designat ton of
art OF SAID penitentiary as Honolulu
All is wholly arbitrary and unreason-
Die, and is mere pretense or sub
erfuSe the persons alleged to be con-
ned in Honolulu Jail so called, in
ludlng your petitioner being in fact | !
2nhned in the said penitentiary, the !
anne being the Territorial prison in
mich the death sentence is executed. |
nd in which felons under sentence for
FAMOUS crimes are confined as afore-
M, and that the punishment inaict-
upon your petitioner in the prem
es is an Infamous punishment and
'nders the crime with which he was
larged and whereof he was convict
1 by said District Magistrate an in
NOUS crime within the meaning of
lie Fifth Amendment to the constit1,-
on Of the United States, |