Evening star., 1943-11-18
Hobbs 10 Submit Bill
Lifting Court Curbs
|0f Mchabb' Decision

sssS SU~ss SSsOS
OF McNabb' Decision
Scoring the Supreme Court de-
cision in the McNabb case as
poison In the creek" Represent
ative Hobbs, Democrat, of Alabama,
a member of the House Judiciary
Committee, announced today he is
introducing bill to lift the restric-
tions on the admissability Of evi-
dence in criminal cases which the
court ruling Of last March imposed.
Mr.. Hobbs made his statement at
a meeting Of the National Sherif1s
Association at the Willard Hotel
after Henry A. Scheinhaut, a special
assistant to the Attorney General,
described as mess" the situation
in the courts of the country as an
aftermath of the McNabb case.
In that litigation the Supreme
Court reversed the second-degree
murder convictions Of three youthful
Tennessee mountaineers on the
broad grounds that they were de-
tanned for questioning too long be-
fore arraignment and that their
statement in connection with the
fatal shooting Of = revenue agent
were not admissible evidence
against them.
Mr.. Schweinhaut also said the
Supreme Court was in error in as
suming the men had not been ar
raigned promptly. The record on
which the court acted was silent on
that point. While the arraignment
on the murder charge was delayed,
Mr.. Schweinhaut continued, the men
were arraigned on a liquor charge
shortly after arrest and were pop
erly in custody when confessions were
obtained about 48 hours later.
Sheriffs to Back Bill.
The Sherif1s' Association, whose
members have found their law
enforcement tasks complicated as
result Of the decision, which was
written by Justice Frankfurter, is
expected to get behind legislation to
relieve the conditions arising from
the decision with which law
enforcement officers generally are
faced.
The poison in the creek which
has resulted from the McNabb case
is one Of the most serious matters
that those Of us connected with
law enforcement ever have had to
face" Mr.. Hobbs told the associa-
ton.
He added that the ruling "opens
the door wide for the rankest kind
of fraud on the part of crooked
police officers" Explaining, the
Alabaman said that crooked officer
for price-could keep a prisoner
in his company at an all-night
party before bringing him before
an arraigning officer and, under the
Supreme Court rule, no confession
the man might have made could
have been used against him.
Under the Hobbs BILL no failure
to observe any requirement of law
as to time OF arraignment would
render inadmissible any evidence
otherwise admissible"
He said that If the sheriffs had
any better ideas for correcting the
new rule OF evidence" the Supreme
Court had set up, he would be glad
to have them. He added that Con-
gress wants to cooperate in this
matter
Mr.. Schweinhaut recited a num-
Der OF instances-two in the local
courts-in which the Government
has sustained reverses as a result
OF the McNabb DECISION. He also
told the sheriffs that. by Implication.
the court had invited State courts
to follow the rule it laid down and
that State officers everywhere NAV
f1nd their courts taking cognizance
Of the ruling.
In District Court earlier this week,
Justice David A. Pine ordered the
acquittal of haywood Wilborn, II,
on charges of housebreaking and
attempted criminal assault, on the
basis OF the McNabb decision. Ear
lier the Court of Appeals reversed
the conviction Of James P. Mitchell,
so-called society burglar" on the
same grounds. Mr.. Schweinhaut
listed one espionage defendant, six
persons convicted of treason and
one convicted murderer as examples
where criminal charges had fallen
before the McNabb decision.
Treason Convictions Reversed.
The treason cases involved three
men and three women who were
relatives OF the executed Nazi sabo-
teurs. The three men were SEN
fenced to death and the women to
lift imprisonment, but the Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals reversed
the convictions. Mr.. Schweinhaut
said, however, that he does mot be-
lieve that the McNabb rule is going
to be as harsh and absolute as some
OF the Federal courts now think it
will be-"
In opening today's meeting, which
is called the Sheriffs Executive War
Conference, William S. Souter, Cedar
Point, Ohio, declared the McNabb
decision "one Of the most serious
blows ever delivered to law enforce
ment in this country" He added
that he hoped the views of the asso-
citation as to need for remedial leg
islation would be heard in Congress