The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-25
ShiPp and Five Others Are Held In Contempt By De-
 cisiOn of Supreme Court
SENTENCE OF COURT WILL
 BE PRONOUNCED JUNE 1.
The Six Defendants Are Held Respon- sible For Lynching of Negro In 1905 While He Was Await
 ing Appeal of Case.

Washington, May 24-For the first tina in so serious a case, the supreme court of the United States will on next Tues- day week undertake to mete out pun ishment for the crime of contempt of the court itself and the importance of tho occasion will be enhanced by the num- Der of the defendants.
 The proceedings will take place in con neotion with the cases of Sheriff Shipp and Deputy Sheriff Gibson of Hamilton county, Tennessee, and four other resi- dents of that county, named respective ly Williams, Nolan, Padgett and May. These men were today declared by tho court to be guilty of an act of contempt in combining in March, 1905. In con spiracy to lynch a negro, Ed Johnson. who had been sentenced to death by the local courts the charge of rape and in whose case the supreme court had interfered to the extent of granting an appeal which had the effect of supersedeas. On, the night following the announcement of the. courts action John son was taken out of the jail in Chatta- nooga by a mob and lynohed. There was no resistance on the part of the jail authorities and Shipp and number of his deputies, as well as about 20 cit izens, were proceeded against on the ! charge of contempt of the federal court
 Case Long Pending.
 The case has been pending ever since, and tie number of defendants was from time to time diminished to nine or these nine three today were found guiltless, while the other six were ordered to be brought into court next Tuesday week for sentence. They will be taken into | custody immediately and will appear in court in charge of Marshal Wright. The sentence may be either fine or imprison- ment or both.
 The case is regarded as of exceptional
 interest because it is practically the first time that this the highest court in the United States, has ever undertaken to assert it's dignity or to resent acts or words refecting upon it. In one previous case years ago a defendant was fined for some expression of contempt. but the case was so comparatively insignificant as to practically leave the present pro- ceeding standing alone
 In the cases of Sheriff Shipp and Dep- uty Sheriff Gibson the court declares there may be contempt in the failure of the officers of the law to prevent the crime, and taking cognizance of an of- fense at so great a distance the court as- serts for the first time by action its right to compel the proper respect for and treatment of its verdicts in all parts of the union.
 In Custody of Court.
 The charge of contempt against Sheriff Shipp and his co-defendants was due to the fact that when Johnson was lynched he was constructively in the custody of the court. Only a month before the ne- gro had been found guilty of the crime of rape and had been sentenced to death. The supreme court had taken cognizance of the case by granting an appeal from a decision of the United States circuit court, denying him writ of habeas cor pus, which effected a stay of proceedings in the conviots case. The appeal was all lowed March 19, and that night Johnson was taken out of jail at Chattanooga and hanged. This action was strongly resented by the court, and immediately the complaint made to President Roosevelt who ordered an investigation by the department of justice. That in- vestlgation resulted in the filing in the court by the attorney general in May. 1906, of an 'informa tion" in which Shipp and nine of his deputies and r other per sons were charged with complicity in the lynching, Snipp and some of his subordinates by absenting themselves from the Jail on the night of the tragedy and the others by actual participation In it. The case aroused much interest in the south because not only of the excep- tional character of the proceeding, but because of the popularity of Mir Shipp and the character of Johnson's crime Justice Harlan exercised an especial &C., tivity in bringing the lynching to tha attention of the authorities. He had been the first member of the court to take notice of the offense and he seemed to most keenly feel the indgnfty to the court implied by the lynching. Deputy Clerk Maher of the court was sent to Chatta- nooga- as a commissioner to investigate and take testimony. The Investigation failed to connect with the crime r of the men implicated and the cases against them were dismissed at the beginning of the present term.
 Neglect of Duty.
 The chiee justice presented a complete review of the Johnson case. He con oluded that neither Shipp nor his deputy, Gibson, had made any effort to prevent the removal of Johnson from the jail to prevent his killing after he was taken out, nor to discover the participants in the lynchng after it took place.
 It will lie with the court to determine the degree of punishment that may be inflicted upon the men found guilty.
 Justice Peckham delivered a dissenting opinion declaring that there was not "the slightest testimony to support the charge against Shipp.'
 Justice Peci<ham concluded by asserting that Mir Shipp, whom he described as Ian invalid old man." had been held "to a degree of responsibility far beyond any reasonable limit" He also held that the testimony against Deputy Gibson, who was the jailer. was insufficient to convict him of contempt. Justices White an1 McKenna concurred in the dissenting opinion.
 The chief justice quoted literally from an interview given out by Shipp sonle