The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-11-17
SUPREME COURT CONTEMPT.

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States moves slowly. but ii moves II"
resistibly. and uuless the man dies IN
the meantime il catches the offender
hard aud fast al the last.
4 negro convicted under the laws OF
Tennessee appealed TO the L. :. SUI
preme Court against the Justice of his
conviction. That court consented to
take jurisdiction OF the case, aud al
most Immediately upon the ucws being
received al Chattanooga that the courl
had so acied. the negro was iypched.
The sheriff who had him in charge ap-
pears 10 have made no particular ofoCo
10 protect him, and a number of tue
lypchers being recognized. sbcrlh,
Iailer, and mob leaders were cited 10
appear before the L. S, supreme Court
for contempt. There mad been no op-
portuuity to serve any papers from the
Supreme Court upon the sheriff. Dotify-
ing him Of the jurisdiction assumed of
| the case. No order had been issued 10
him 10 protect the prisoner, or 10 en-
force the jurisdiction. But upon the
bare teleeraphic announcement that the
court bad assumed jurisdiction, the mob
arose. the sheriff made no real re-
! sstauce. and thc negro was lvuchcd
while his case was in ,hc hands of the
court
/ Under these circumstances, tbc court
! held the sheriff and the mob TO be IN
contempt. and cited them TO appear at
it's bar. They appeared last spring,
and upon motion for further bearing,
their ease went over until Monday of
! this week. the pending motion having
been ovcrrulcd, On that day tney ap-
pcared, and The sheriff and the leader
Of the mob were sentenced 10 ninety
days in prison for contempt of the
court, and the taller and two others of
the mobbers were sentenced each TO
sixty days imprisonment
This case will inevitably recall the
proceedings in this city last summer,
upon the issue Of au injunction against
the establishment Of the cred light
district in the western part of ibis
city. The sheriff, as the executive Of
tccr Of the court. was The natural au.
thoritv 10 see that the order of the
court was enforced He did nothing
about it for days, for weeks, for months
But 6nally upou the arousal of an in
digusnt public opinion. he took action
aud broke mp the stockade
The question that we wish 10 pro
pound here is, that although strictly
aud from the statutory point of view
there may be no obligation upon the
sheriff 10 enforce that order of tbe
court. there was. BY parity Of rea
souing. the same implied obligation
upon him 10 do so that there was in
the case of the sheriff at Chattanooga
10 protect the prisoner on the assump
ticn of jurisdiction in his ease by the
l.. S. Supreme Court. If il was con
tempt of court for the sheriff who had
10 official notice whatever, aud no no
tice at all except that carried iu The
tcleeraphic news. that tue court was
dealing with the case of the negro ir
his charge. why was there not the same
, sort of obligation npon the sheriff OF
this county. who was in the immedia Il
presence of the court, aud knew pre-
ciscly what its order was? II The
sheriff at Chattanooga was in contempt
of the L. 8. Supreme Court under The
circumstances related, then the sheriff
of this county is in double contempt ot
the District Court here every day il
which he allowed the stockadc TO ru1
after the court had issued its iniunc
tiOn arainSf IT,