Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-13
Mallory Rule Urged
On Stotes by Douglas

Supreme Court Justice Dou-
glas has urged that the So
called Mallory rule, barring
confessions made during any
unnecessary delay in arraign-
ment. be adopted by the States.
He declared the third degree
still flourishes underground in
this country"
In a little-publicized speech
Wednesday at the Washington
University School of Law. st.
Louis, Mo. he indicated courts
now should reverse. on con-
stitutional grounds convictions
where arraignment has been
unnecessarily delayed and the
Inspect Intercepted.
Interpreting the Mallory
rule, Justice Douglas declared
that any detention without ar
raignment is "unreaSonably
long If 1t continues beyond the
time necessary to perform rou-
tine police functions. such as
photographing and flngerprint-
ing" as long as magistrate is
available.
State Courts Unaffected
The Mallory rule is apple.
able only in Federal, not state.
courts. The name stems from
a Supreme Court decision in
the case of Andrew Mallory
who had been convicted of an
especially brutal rape. In inter-
preting Federal rule calling
for prompt arrangement. the
court found that Mallory. in
police custody about 7l2 hours
until he confessed. and then
arralgned several hours later,
had been held an unreasonable
length of time. A confession
was voided and Mallory even
tually went free.
The States. generally. have
statutes calling for prompt
arraignment. But police often
hold suspects, sometimes for
days. without arraignment
until a confession is obtained.
BY an dlarge. these confessions
are upheld by State courts as
long as they are deemed TO
have been voluntary"
More Judicial Control
Supreme Court rulings sane
tioning such decisions drew
fire from Justice Douglas. He
said that after reading of Brit
ish rules barring Interrogation
of suspects after they are ar
rested. lone will have a |
heavy heart when he picks
up American decisions which
hold. despite the Fourteenth
A m n dment's Requirements,
that the States afford every
citizen due process, police may
arrest person and deny his
plea TO talk to his lawyer until
they have obtained a confess
SION
Pointing out that the the
DRY of our system is that the
police may not arrest the citi-
zen on suspicion alone" JUS
tice Douglas said his reading
OF decisions end law journals
leads him to believe that
judges and lawyers often for
get that the Anglo American
system Of criminal law is de-
signed to reduce police control
and increase judicial control"
He declared the purpose of
holding prisoners incommuni-
cado for long periods is plain:
the police want leisure time in
which to use the various de-
vices that eventually make
most men talk"
Justice Douglas asserted
"One who sits. as I have, on
an appellate bench for 20.
years knows beyond peradven-
ture that the third degree still
f1ourishes underground in this
country"
Turning to practices in the
states. Justice Douglas said
that while all States are re-
qulred by the Constitution TO
exclude involuntary confess
ions, none has followed the
Mallory case by adopting an
evolutionary rule merely be-
cause the prompt arraignment
RECRUITMENT is violated
Unknown PreSSureS
The trend has been the other
way. he declared.
Most confessions blurted out
upon arrest are probably tue,
the juriSt said. But, he con-
tlnued, I'VE never can know
for sure what pressure and
practices were used against the
person who was held for hours,
or days or weeks incommuni-
cado. Experience shows us that
the issue of voluntariness is ex-
tremely difficult to resolve :"
An indication that he be-
lieveS courts should bar the
states practice of countenanc-
ing delays in arraignment Was
evident in the jurist's comment
that secret Interrogation and
delayed arraignment of the
suspect are evils that implicate
constitutional rights" He listed
a series of constitutional safe
guards that such actions, in his
view. violate.
Except in cases where a po-
liceman actually eSthe crime
| heit1u committed Uit &c for tho