United States v. Warden of the Federal House of Detention for Men
United States v. Warden of the Federal House of Detention for Men
Opinion of the Court
Relator was arrested and charged with the commission of a crime within this district. He was then incarcerated in the Federal House of Detention for Men at West Street, City and State of New York, in the Southern District. Upon application of the relator alleging that he was held on bail in an amount that was excessive and unlawful, this Court on October 26, 1960 issued a writ of habeas corpus directing the respondent to produce the body of the relator on October 27, 1960 for a hearing to be held in this Court.
Upon the return date the respondent and relator appeared in Court pursuant to the writ but counsel for the respondent objected to the Court’s jurisdiction to issue a writ directed to the respondent who was not located within the Eastern District of New York and whose detention of the relator was outside of .the territorial limits of the Court.
There are some earlier cases not in harmony with this conclusion, which however cannot be deemed acceptable authorities today. For instance, in Ex parte Fong Yim, D.C.1905, 134 F. 938, a writ was issued in the Southern District to review the alleged illegal detention of persons in the Northern District of New York who were so detained" by the respondent, Chief Chinese Exclusion Officer in the City of New York whose jurisdiction extended throughout the State of New York. Production of the persons in court was waived pursuant to a stipulation which the court held was tantamount to the production of the persons in open court, stating that if the persons had been so produced the court would have had jurisdiction to determine whether their detention was legal (at page 939). Other cases with similar dicta were distinguished in United States ex rel. Belardi v. Day, 3 Cir., 1931, 50 F.2d 816. In the latter case the respondent pursuant to an invalid writ produced the body of the relator but at the same time challenged the power and authority of the court to issue the writ because it was executed beyond the court’s territorial jurisdiction. The court dismissed the writ and remanded the relator, stating that the appearance of the respondent under such circumstances was at most a special appearance which did not cure the court’s inherent lack of jurisdiction.
There was a jurisdictional defect in the issuance of the writ in the instant case which was not cured by the respondent’s appearance. The writ therefore must be dismissed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America on the relation of Thomas W. DESIO, Relator v. WARDEN OF the FEDERAL HOUSE OF DETENTION FOR MEN
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published