Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/212/78/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 12:08:06+00:00

Document:
What is due process of law depends on circumstances, and varies with the subject matter and necessities of the situation.
An officer of a state interfering with an individual's rights in an unconstitutional manner derives no protection from personal liability on account of his office.
The declaration of the governor of a state that a state of insurrection exists is conclusive.
in good faith, he cannot be subjected to an action therefor after he is out of office on the ground that he had not reasonable cause.
Public danger warrants the substitution of executive for judicial process, and the ordinary rights of individuals must yield to what the executive honestly deems the necessities of a critical moment.
Without deciding other questions as to the jurisdiction of the circuit court, held that the declaration of plaintiff in error in this case against the former governor of Colorado for arrest and detention during a period of insurrection does not give the circuit court jurisdiction thereof under § 629 or 1979, Rev.Stat., as a suit authorized by law brought to redress the deprivation of a constitutional right.
This is an action brought by the plaintiff in error against the former Governor of the State of Colorado, the former adjutant general of the national guard of the same state, and a captain of a company of the national guard, for an imprisonment of the plaintiff by them while in office. The complaint was dismissed on demurrer, and the case comes here on a certificate that the demurrer was sustained solely on the ground that there was no jurisdiction in the circuit court. 148 F. 870.
had ordered that the plaintiff should be arrested as a leader of the outbreak, and should be detained until he could be discharged with safety, and that then he should be delivered to the civil authorities, to be dealt with according to law.
The complaint purports to be founded upon the Constitution and on Rev.Stat. § 1979, which authorizes suit to be brought for such deprivation as above described. Therefore, the question whether the complaint states a case upon the merits under § 1979 in this instance is another aspect of the question whether it states a case within the jurisdiction of the court under § 629, cl. 16. Taken either way, the question is whether this is a suit authorized by law -- that is, by § 1979, or the Constitution, or both.
The plaintiff's position, stated in a few words, is that the action of the Governor, sanctioned to the extent that it was by the decision of the supreme court, was the action of the state, and therefore within the Fourteenth Amendment, but that, if that action was unconstitutional, the Governor got no protection from personal liability for his unconstitutional interference with the plaintiff's rights. It is admitted, as it must be, that the Governor's declaration that a state of insurrection existed is conclusive of that fact. It seems to be admitted also that the arrest alone would not necessarily have given a right to bring this suit. Luther v. Borden, 7 How. 1, 48 U. S. 45-46. But it is said that a detention for so many days, alleged to be without probable cause at a time when the courts were open, without an attempt to bring the plaintiff before them, makes a case on which he has a right to have a jury pass.
We shall not consider all of the questions that the facts suggest, but shall confine ourselves to stating what we regard as a sufficient answer to the complaint, without implying that there are not others equally good. Of course, the plaintiff's position is that he has been deprived of his liberty without due process of law. But it is familiar that what is due process of law depends on circumstances. It varies with the subject matter and the necessities of the situation. Thus, summary proceedings suffice for taxes, and executive decisions for exclusion from the country. Murray v. Hoboken Land & Improvement Co., 18 How. 272; United States v. Ju Toy, 198 U. S. 253, 198 U. S. 263. What, then, are the circumstances of this case? By agreement, the record of the proceedings upon habeas corpus was made part of the complaint, but that did not make the averments of the petition for the writ averments of the complaint. The facts that we are to assume are that a state of insurrection existed and that the Governor, without sufficient reason, but in good faith, in the course of putting the insurrection down, held the plaintiff until he thought that he safely could release him.
for punishment, but are by way of precaution, to prevent the exercise of hostile power. So long as such arrests are made in good faith and in the honest belief that they are needed in order to head the insurrection off, the Governor is the final judge, and cannot be subjected to an action after he is out of office on the ground that he had not reasonable ground for his belief. If we suppose a Governor with a very long-term of office, it may be that a case could be imagined in which the length of the imprisonment would raise a different question. But there is nothing in the duration of the plaintiff's detention or in the allegations of the complaint that would warrant submitting the judgment of the Governor to revision by a jury. It is not alleged that his judgment was not honest, if that be material, or that the plaintiff was detained after fears of the insurrection were at an end.
we are of opinion that the same is true of a law authorizing by implication what was done in this case. As we have said already, it is unnecessary to consider whether there are other reasons why the circuit court was right in its conclusion. It is enough that, in our opinion, the declaration does not disclose a "suit authorized by law to be brought to redress the deprivation of any right secured by the Constitution of the United States." See Dow v. Johnson, 100 U. S. 158.

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