Case Name: Ex Parte, in the Matter of David A. Secombe
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1856-12
Citations: 19 How. 9
Docket Number: 
Parties: Ex Parte, in the Matter of David A. Secombe.
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Reports
Volume: 60
Pages: 9–16

Head Matter:
Ex Parte, in the Matter of David A. Secombe.
By the rules and practice of common-law courts, it rests exclusively with the court to determine who is qualified to become or continue one of its .officers, as an attorney and counsellor of the court; the power being regulated, however, by a sound and just judicial discretion — guarding the rights .and independence of the bar as well as the dignity and authority of the court.
The local law of the Territory of Minnesota has regulated the relation between courts and attorneys and counsellors, but has not essentially changed the common-law principle.
The Minnesota statute authorizes the court to dismiss an attorney or counsellor if-he does not maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers, or for not conducting himself with fidelity to the court.
The Supreme Court of the Territory dismissed the relator from the office of coun-sellor and attorney. of the court, stating in the sentence- of dismissal that, he was guilty of the .offences above mentioned, but not specifying the act or acts which, in the opinion of the court, constituted the offence.
The order of dismissal is a judicial act done in the exercise of a judicial discretion vested in the court bylaw; and a mandamus cannot be issued by a supe-' rior or appellate court, commanding it to reverse its decision and restore the relator to the office he has lost.
This was a motion for a mandamus to bé directed to the judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory, of Minnesota, commanding them to vacate and set aside an order of the eourt, passed at January term,-1856, whereby the said Secombe was removed from his office as an attorney and counsellor of that, court.
The subject was brought before this court by the following petition and documents m support of it:
To the Hon. the -Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States:.
The petition of David A. Secombe respectfully showeth:
That he resides in the city of St. Anthony, in the Territory' of Minnesota; that on the ninth day of July, 1852, he was. duly admitted and sworn to practice as an, attorney and coiin- sellor at law and solicitor in chancery of the said ■ Supreme Coprt of the Territory of. Minnesota, and was thereby entitled also to practice as such in the various District Courts of said ^Territory, as will appear by the certificate of the clerk of the said Supreme Court, hereunto annexed and made part of this petition; that from the said time up to the 5th day of February, 1856, he was a. practising attorney and counsellor as aforesaid in the said courts, and splely thereby obtained the means of. support for himself and his family; that on the said 5th day.of February, an order of the said Supreme Court was. made, and entered of record, to remove him from his said office of attorney and counsellor, and to forbid and prohibit ■ him from'practising as such attorney and counsellor in any of the said courts, an exemplification of which said order, with the certificate of the clerk of the said court accompanying thev same, is hereunto annexed, and made part of this petition; that, previously to the making and entry of said order, no notice ór information whatever was 'given to or had by him, that any accusation whatever' had been made or entertained, or any proceedings had or were about to be made, entertained, or had,, against or in relation to him, in the said premises; that he was not present in court at the time of the making and entry' of said order, nor did he have any knowledge whatever of the same until several days thereafter, and. then only by rumor; that there existed no good cause whatever, as your petitioner ■believes, .for the making of the said order; that he has no knowledge or information, or means of obtaining either, save by rumor, of the alleged cause of the making of th¿ said order; that in consequence of the making and entrysof the said order, he has been and now is hindered and prevented from practising as such attorney and counsellor in any of the said courts, and thereby has lost the said means of providing for the support of himself and his family; that he' believes that the said order of court is not only injaet entirely without cause, but also in law wholly null and void; and that in the said premises “he has been deprived of his' liberty and prop-; erty without due process of law.”
"Wherefore, your petitioner prays that this honorable ■ court will allow and cause to be issued the United States writ of mandamus to the judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Minnesota aforesaid, commanding them to vacate, set aside, and disregard, the said .order of court by them made and entered, that thereby speedy justice may be done to your petitioner in this behalf;'and thus will your petitioner, as in duty bound, ever pray. David A. Sbcomde. -
Dated May 30, 1856.
DISTRICT or Columbia,
County of Washington, ss:
. Then , comes before me,-personally,. David A. Secombe, tbe above and- foregoing named petitioner, and being by me duly sworn,-deposes and says, tbat-tbe statements made in tbe above and foregoing petition, by bim subscribed, are true of bis own knowledge, except to those matters therein stated on bis information or belief; and as to those matters, tbat be believes them to be true.
' [seal.] . 2ST. Callan, J. P.
Supreme Court,
Territory of Minnesota:
Ordered, Tbat Isaac Van Etten, Theodore Parker,'De Witt C. Cooley, David A. Secombe, William H. Welch, Charles L. Willis, Lucas R. Stannard, Edward L. Hall, Warren Bristol, and William H. Wood, be sworn and admitted to practice as attorneys and counsellors at law and solicitors in chancery of this court. ' -
I,- George W. Prescott, clerk of tbe Supreme Court above .named, certify tbat tbe.above is a true copy of an order of said court, entered of record upon tbe “minutes:of court” for and upon tbe 9th day of July, A. D. 1852, being tbe 4th day of tbe general term of said court for said year. .
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my band [seal.] and affixed the seal'of said Supreme Court, at St.
Paul aforesaid, this 7th day of May, A. D. 1856.
George W. Prescott, Clerk.
Supreme Court,
Territory of Minnesota:
January General Term, A.-- D. 1856, 17th Day,- Tuesday Morning, February., 5, 1856.
Court met pursuant to adjournment.
Present, Chief Justice Welch and Justice Chatfield.
It appearing to this court tbat David A. Secombe, one of tbe attorneys thereof, has by bis acts as such in open court, at tbe present term thereof, been guilty of a wilful violation of tbe second subdivision of section seveti. of chapter ninety-three oí tbe revised statutes of this .Territory, and also of a violation of tbat part of bis official oath as such attorney by which be was sworn to conduct himself with fidelity, to the court: It is therefore
Ordered, That tbe said David A. Secombe be and be hereby' is removed from his office as an attorney and e, msellor of this court, and of the several District Courts of this Territory, and that he be henceforth forbidden and prohibited from practising as. such attorney in any of said courts. It is further
Ordered, That the clerk of this court deliver to said David A. Secombe a copy of this order.
A true record.' Attest: George W. Prescott, Clerk.
I, George W. Prescott, clerk of the Supreme Court in and for the Territory of Minnesota, certify the foregoing to be a true and complete copy of the order of court made and entered of record as above set forth on said 5th day of said February, A. D. 1856; and I further certify, that- the above and foregoing is the whole and entire record in any way or manner relating to the said order of coiirt at the said term or at any other term; .and that the said order was made and entered of record.in the following and no other manner, to wit:' On the said day, the said David A.' Secombe not being present in court, as the ^aid judges rose to leave the court room after having fixed the adjournment day for holding said court, one of the said judges delivered to the undersigned Clerk the said order in writing, directing the same to be entered of record as the order of said court, and the said court-was thereupon immediately adjourned to the 15th day of July then next. And no further or other order whatever in relation to the subject matter of the said order was made at the said term. '
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. ■ [seal.] and affixed the seal of said court, at St. Paul, this 7th day of May, A. D. 1856.
George W. Prescott, Clerk.
■ SUPREME court oe the united states.
The United States ex relatione David A. Secombe v. The Judges oe 'the Supreme Coubt oe Minnesota Territory.
To the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Minnesota:
Please to take notice, that I shall move the Supreme Court of the United States, on Friday of the first week of the next term thereof, to' be held at the Capitol in the city of "Washington, in the District of Columbia, on the- first Monday of December next, at the going in of the court, or as soon thereafter as counsel can be heard,, for a rule, or order, upon the judges of the Territory of Minnesota, requiring them to vacate, annul* an order made by that court on the 5th 'day of February, 1856, removing David A. Secombe from his office as attorney and counsellor of said cóurt and -of the District Courts of said Territory, or show cause before the said Su preme Court óf tlie United States why a writ of mandamus should not bo issued to compel the said judges so to do.
And the said motion will be made upon the- petition of the said David A. Secombe, hereto annexed. C. Cushing,
Dated May 30,1856. Attorney for Petitioner.
The case was argued by Mr. Badger in support of the motion.

Opinion:
Mr. Chief Justice TANEY
delivered the opinion of the court.
' A mandamus has been moved for, by David A. Secombe, to be directed to the judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Minnesota, commanding them to vacate and set aside an order of the court, passed at January term, 1856, whereby the said Secombe was removed from his office as an attorney and counsellor of that court-.. -
In the case of Tillinghast v. Conkling, which came' before this court at' January term, 1829, a similar motion was overruled by this court. The case is not reported; but a brief written opinion remains on the files of the court, in which the court says that the motion is overruled, upon the ground that ' it had-not jurisdiction in the case. '
The removal of the attorney and counsellor, in that case, took place in a District Court of the United States, exercising the powers of a Circuit Court.; and, in a court of that character, the relations between the court and the attorneys and coun-sellors who practise in .it, and their respective rights and duties, are regulated by the common law. And it has been well settled, by the rules and practice of common-law courts, that it rests exclusively with the court to.determine who is-qualified to become one of its officers, as an attorney and counsellor, and for what cause he ought to be removed. The poWer, however, is not an arbitrary and despotic one, to be exercised at the pleasure of the court, or,from passion, prejudice, or personal hostility; but it is the duty of the court to exercise and regulate it by a sound and just judicial discretion, whereby the rights and independence of the bar may be as scrupulously guarded and maintained by the - court, as the rights and dignity of the court itself.
_ It has, however, been urged at the bar, that a much broader discretionary power is exercised. in courts acting upon the rules, of the common law than can be- lawfully exercised in the Territorial court of Minnesota; because the Legislature of' the Territory has, by statute, prescribed .the conditions upon which a person may entitle himself to admission as an attor- nej and counsellor in its courts, and also enumerated the offences for which he may be removed, and prescribed the ' mode of proceeding against him. And the relator complains that it appears by the transcript fromsthe record, and the certificate of the clerk, which he filed with his petition for.a mandamus, that in the sentence of removal he is not found guilty of any specific offence which would, under the statute of the Territory, justify his removal, and had no notice of any charge against him, and no opportunity of being heard in his. defence.,
It is true that, in the statutes of Minnesota, rules are prescribed for the admission of attorneys and counsellors, and also for their removal. But it will appear, upon examination, that, in describing some of the offences for- which .they may he removed, the statute has done but little, if anything, more than enact the general rules upon which the courts of common law have always acted; and have not,.in any material degree, narrowed the discretion they exercised. Indeed, it is difficult, if not impossible, to enumerate and define, with legal precision, every offence for which an attorney or counsellor ought to be removed. And the Legislature, for the most part, can only prescribe general rules and principles to be carried' into execution by the court with judicial discretion and jus- ' rice as cases may arise.
The revised code of Minnesota, (ch. 93, sec. 7, subdivision 2,) makes it the duty of the attorney and counsellor "to maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers."
The 19th section of the same chapter enumerates certain offences for which an attorney or counsellor may be removed; and, among others, enacts that he may. be x-emoved for a wilful violation of any of the provisions of section 7, above mentioned. And, in its- sentence óf removal, the court say that the rélatoi-, being one of the attorneys and counsellors of the court, had, by his acts as such, in open court, at the term at which.he was removed, been guilty of a wilful violation of the provision above mentioned, and also of a violation of that. Eart of his official oath by wliieh he was sworn to conduct imself with-fidelity to the court.
The statute, it will be observed, does not attempt to specify the acts which shall be deemed' disrespectful to the court or the judicial officers. It must therefoi'e rest with the court to determine what acts amount to. a violation of this pi'ovision; and this is a judicial power vested in the court by the Legislature. The removal of the relator, thei'efore, for the cause above mentioned, was -the act of a court done in the exercise of a judicial discretion which the law authorized and required it to exercise. • And the other- cause assigned for the removal stands on the same ground. •
It is not necessary to inquire whether this^ decision of,the Territorial court can be,, reviewed -here in any other form of proceeding. But the court are' of. opinion that he is. not' entitled to a remedy by mandamus. Undoubtedly the judgment of an •inferior- court may be reversed in a superior one, which possesses appellate power over-it, and a mandate be issued, commanding it to carry into execution the judgment of the appellate tribunal. , But it cannot be reviewed and reversed in this-icrm of .proceeding,-however erroneous it maybe or supposed to be. , And we. are not aware of any case where a mandamus'has issued, to an'inferior tribunal, commanding .it to'reverse or annul its decision,-where the decision was in its nature a judicial act, and within the'' scope 'of its jurisdiction and discretion. ' '
These principles apply'with equal force to the proceedings adopted by the court in making the. removal. - -
-.The statute of Minnesota, under which the court, acted, directs that ' the proceedings- to remove an attorney or coun-sellor must be taken. by the court, on its' own motion,, for matter within its knowledge;'or may be taken on the information of another. And, in the latter case, it-requires that, the information should be, in writing, and notice be given to the party,' anda day given to him to answer and deny the sufficiency of the accusation, .or deny its truth. .
In this .case, it appears that the offences charged were committed in' open court, ;and the -proceedings to remove the • relator were'taken by the .court upon its own motion. And it appears by his affidavit that.he had no notice that the court . intended to proceed against him; had no opportunity' of being -heard in his-defence, and did not know that he was dismissed from the bar until the term was closed," and the. court-had. adjourned to the next term.
Now,- in proceeding to remove the relator,, the court was necessarily called bn to decide whether, in a cáse where the qfíence .was'committed-in open court, and the proceeding Was had by the court on its own motion, the statute -of Minnesota - required that notice should be given to the party,, and" an opportunity afforded, him to be heard in his defence. ' The court, it seems, were of- opinion that.no notice was necessaiy, and proceeded without, it; and, Whether-this decision Was. erroneous or not, yet it -yas.madetiñ the exercise of judicial authority, where the'subject-matter was within their jurisdiction, and it cannot therefore .be revised and annulled in this form of proceeding.
Upon this view of the subject, it would be useless to grant a rule to show cause; for if the Territorial court made a return stating what they had done, in the precise form in which the sentence of dismissal now appears in the papers exhibited by the relator, a peremptory mandamus' could not issue to restore him to the office he has lost. ' .
The motion must therefore be overruled.