Statement of the Case.

denying the petitioner the right to introduce any evidence to sustain said petition or tending to sustain it, which the plaintiff duly offered,] the writ should be discharged, and that the motion to quash said return be denied, and it was afterwards so decreed and ordered.

"Wherefore this petitioner appeals from the whole of said decree of said Circuit Court, and the petition, return, motion to quash, decree, writ and all other papers forming a record of said cause may be sent to the Supreme Court of the United States without delay, together with this appeal, and moves that the said Supreme Court will proceed to hear the said cause anew, and that the said decree of the said Circuit Court be reversed, and for such further order and decree to be made as will to the Supreme Court of the United States seem just and right. The petition for the writ of habeas corpus, the writ of habeas corpus, the return of the sheriff, the motion to quash, and the decree of the court, are hereby made a part of this appeal."

On the same day, that appeal was allowed by the District Judge.

On May 8, the petitioner filed a paper, purporting to amend his appeal by inserting the words above printed in brackets; and with this paper filed the following letter addressed to his counsel by the District Judge:

"United States Courts, Judges' Chambers, New Haven, May 4, 1895. William H. Baker, Esq., 39 Court Street, Boston, Mass. Dear Sir: Continuous court engagements night and day for two days have prevented an earlier reply to your letter of April 29th. I had supposed that the record contained a statement of the fact that the court declined to hear the evidence; and, if not, I am willing that the statement of said fact should be inserted in the record, provided it can be properly done at this time.

"Yours truly, WILLIAM K. TOWNSEND."

The record transmitted to this court set forth the matters

Opinion of the Court.

above stated; but showed no further order amending the record, or allowing the amendment of the appeal.

Mr. William H. Baker for appellant.

Mr. Edward H. Rogers, (with whom was Mr. Tilton E. Doolittle on the brief,) for appellee.

MR. JUSTICE GRAY, after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court.

By the judicial system of the United States, established by Congress under the power conferred upon it by the Constitution, the jurisdiction of the courts of the several States has not been controlled or interfered with, except so far as necessary to secure the supremacy of the Constitution, laws and treaties of the United States.

With this end, three different methods have been provided by statute for bringing before the courts of the United States proceedings begun in the courts of the States.

First. From the earliest organization of the courts of the United States, final judgments, whether in civil or in criminal cases, rendered by the highest court of a State in which a decision in the case could be had, against a right specially set up or claimed under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States, may be reëxamined and reversed or affirmed by this court on writ of error. Acts of September 24, 1789, c. 20, § 25, 1 Stat. 85; February 5, 1867, c. 28, § 2, 14 Stat. 386; Rev. Stat. § 709; Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheat. 304; Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264. Such appellate jurisdiction is expressly limited to cases in which the decision of the state court is against the right claimed under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States, because, when the decision of that court is in favor of such a right, no revision by this court is necessary to protect the national government in the exercise of its rightful powers. Gordon v. Caldcleugh, 3 Cranch, 268; Montgomery v. Hernandez, 12 Wheat. 129; Commonwealth Bank v. Griffith, 14 Pet. 56, 58; Missouri v. Andriano, 138 U. S. 496, 500, 501.

Opinion of the Court.

Second. By the Judiciary Act of 1789, the only other way of transferring a case from a state court to a court of the United States was under section 12, by removal into the Circuit Court of the United States, before trial, of civil actions against aliens, or between citizens of different States. 1 Stat. 79. Such right of removal for trial has been regulated, and extended to cases arising under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States, by successive acts of Congress, which need not be particularly referred to, inasmuch as the present case is not one of such a removal.

Third. By section 14 of the old Judiciary Act, the courts of the United States were authorized, in general terms, to issue writs of habeas corpus and other writs necessary for the exercise of their respective jurisdictions; "provided that writs of habeas corpus shall in no case extend to prisoners in jail, unless when they are in custody under or by color of the authority of the United States, or are committed for trial before some court of the same, or are necessary to be brought into court to testify." 1 Stat. 81. Under that act, no writ of habeas corpus, except ad testificandum, could be issued in the case of a prisoner in jail under commitment by a court or magistrate of a State. Ex parte Dorr, 3 How. 103; In re Burrus, 136 U. S. 586, 593.

By subsequent acts of Congress, however, the power of the courts of the United States to issue writs of habeas corpus of prisoners in jail has been extended to the case of any person in custody for an act done or omitted in pursuance of a law of the United States, or of an order or process of a court or judge thereof; or in custody in violation of the Constitution, or of a law or treaty of the United States; or who, being a subject or citizen of and domiciled in a foreign State, is in custody for an act done or omitted under any right or exemption claimed under a foreign State, and depending upon the law of nations. Acts of March 2, 1833, c. 57, § 7, 4 Stat., 634; August 29, 1842, c. 257, 5 Stat. 539; February 5, 1867, c. 28, § 1, 14 Stat. 385; Rev. Stat. § 753.

By the existing statutes, this court and the Circuit and District Courts, and any justice or judge thereof, have power

A

Opinion of the Court.

to grant writs of habeas corpus for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of restraint of liberty of any prisoner in jail, who "is in custody in violation of the Constitution, or of a law or treaty of the United States;" and "the court or justice or judge, to whom the application is made, shall forthwith award a writ of habeas corpus, unless it appears from the petition itself that the party is not entitled thereto;" and "shall proceed in a summary way to determine the facts of the case, by hearing the testimony and arguments, and thereupon to dispose of the party as law and justice may require." Rev. Stat. §§ 751-755, 761.

The power thus granted to the courts and judges of the United States clearly extends to prisoners held in custody, under the authority of a State, in violation of the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States. But in the exercise of this power the courts of the United States are not bound to discharge by writ of habeas corpus every such prisoner.

The principles which should govern their action in this matter were stated, upon great consideration, in the leading case of Ex parte Royall, 117 U. S. 241, and were repeated in one of the most recent cases upon the subject, as follows:

"We cannot suppose that Congress intended to compel those courts, by such means, to draw to themselves, in the first instance, the control of all criminal prosecutions commenced in state courts exercising authority within the same territorial limits, where the accused claims that he is held in custody in violation of the Constitution of the United States. The injunction to hear the case summarily, and thereupon 'to dispose of the party as law and justice require,' does not deprive the court of discretion as to the time and mode in which it will exert the powers conferred upon it. That discretion should be exercised in the light of the relations existing, under our system of government, between the judicial tribunals of the Union and of the States, and in recognition of the fact that. the public good requires that those relations be not disturbed by unnecessary conflict between courts equally bound to guard and protect rights secured by the Constitution." "Where a person is in custody, under process from a state court of origi

Opinion of the Court.

nal jurisdiction, for an alleged offence against the laws of such State, and it is claimed that he is restrained of his liberty in violation of the Constitution of the United States, the Circuit Court has a discretion, whether it will discharge him, upon habeas corpus, in advance of his trial in the court in which he is indicted; that discretion, however, to be subordinated to any special circumstances requiring immediate action. When the state court shall have finally acted upon the case, the Circuit Court has still a discretion whether, under all the circumstances then existing, the accused, if convicted, shall be put to his writ of error from the highest court of the State, or whether it will proceed, by writ of habeas corpus, summarily to determine whether the petitioner is restrained of his liberty in violation of the Constitution of the United States." Ex parte Royall, 117 U. S. 241, 251-253; New York v. Eno, 155 U. S. 89, 93-95.

In Ex parte Royall and in New York v. Eno, it was recognized that in cases of urgency, such as those of prisoners in custody, by authority of a State, for an act done or omitted to be done in pursuance of a law of the United States, or of an order or process of a court of the United States, or otherwise involving the authority and operations of the general government, or its relations to foreign nations, the courts of the United States should interpose by writ of habeas corpus.

Such an exceptional case was In re Neagle, 135 U. S. 1, in which a deputy marshal of the United States, charged under the Constitution and laws of the United States with the duty of guarding and protecting a judge of a court of the United States, and of doing whatever might be necessary for that purpose, even to the taking of human life, was discharged on habeas corpus from custody under commitment by a magistrate of a State on a charge of homicide committed in the performance of that duty...]

Such also was In re Loney, 134 U. S. 372, in which a person arrested by order of a magistrate of a State, for perjury in testimony given in the case of a contested Congressional election, was discharged on habeas corpus, because a charge of such perjury was within the exclusive cognizance of the courts of the

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