Court Opinion

ID: 9421209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:57:25.644616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:29.222956
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Minton,
whom Mr. Justice Burton joins,
dissenting.
I agree with the opinion of Mr. Justice Reed, and I would add another reason why I think the judgment should be affirmed.
A civilian not under the jurisdiction of the Military Code has a right to be tried in a civil court for an alleged crime as a civilian. My trouble is that I don’t think Toth was a full-fledged civilian. By 50 U. S. C. § 553, Congress had retained jurisdiction to try Toth for a crime he had committed while a soldier and for which admittedly he could have been tried by court-martial if the United States had discovered his crime one minute before discharge.
He was not a full-fledged civilian under his discharge. He was still a soldier to answer in court-martial for the crime he had committed while a soldiér. He had a conditional discharge only. The United States clearly reserved the right to charge and try him by court-martial for a crime committed while in the status of a soldier. This is the way Congress had provided for his trial. No other way was provided. That it may have provided another way is not to say the way provided is invalid.
I know of no reason why Congress could not pass this statute, 50 U. S. C. § 553, retaining court-martial jurisdiction over Toth to answer for a crime he allegedly committed when he was clearly subject to court-martial. Kahn v. Anderson, 255 U. S. 1, holds that, even though discharged from service, one convicted and serving sentence for a military offense could still be tried by court-*45martial for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, even though the crime was alleged to have been committed within the limits of a state. Congress had made no provision for retention of status, in that case as it had in this case, yet the Court implied the continuing military status to warrant the jurisdiction. No implied status is necessary here. It is expressly reserved by statute. Toth remained in that status by virtue of the statute.