Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/263/4/case.html
Timestamp: 2016-10-24 07:00:48
Document Index: 580960973

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5546', '§ 21', '§ 5537', '§ 5542', '§ 15', '§ 1']

Brede v. Powers (full text) :: 263 U.S. 4 (1923) :: Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center Log In
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Brede v. Powers 263 U.S. 4 (1923)
U.S. Supreme CourtBrede v. Powers, 263 U.S. 4 (1923)Brede v. PowersNo. 45Argued October 4, 1923Decided October 22, 1923263 U.S. 4APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
279 F. 147 affirmed. Page 263 U. S. 5
Appeal from an order of the District Court for the Eastern District of New York discharging a writ of habeas corpus which had been sued out by the appellant to try the constitutionality of his sentence and commitment by that court to the Essex County Jail, New Jersey -- a place designated by the Attorney General pursuant to Rev.Stats. § 5546. The sentence was based upon a conviction under an information which charged a violation of § 21 of Title II of the National Prohibition Act, 41 Stat. 314. Page 263 U. S. 9
Is the contention of appellant justified, in that his was a conviction and commitment of an infamous crime? It is upon this contention that his petition rests. Page 263 U. S. 10
The purpose thus expressed was in substance repeated subsequently, and §§ 5537 and 5538 of the Revised Statutes, reproducing a resolution adopted in 1821 (3 Stat. 646), §§ 5542 and 5548, reproducing 4 Stat. 118, § 15, and 4 Stat. 777, are Page 263 U. S. 11 cited. Sections 5546 and 5541 are also cited; they having their origin in 13 Stat. 74, § 1 and 500.
"define the only instances in which a United States court can sentence a prisoner to confinement in a 'state jail or penitentiary' within the state -- that is, when the statute requires hard labor as part of the punishment or when the imprisonment is for more than a year, and that, therefore, when the sentence is in terms of imprisonment merely, for a year or less, Page 263 U. S. 12 the court has no power to sentence the prisoner to a 'suitable jail or penitentiary in a convenient state . . . designated by the Attorney General.'"
The statute excludes the imposition of hard labor or imprisonment in a penitentiary. Under the contention of appellant, both would be imposed. Imprisonment must be, is the assertion, in a New York penitentiary, and at hard labor, the latter consequence because of the law of New York. Page 263 U. S. 13