Anderson v. Dunn

United States Supreme Court

19 U.S. 204

Anderson  v.  Dunn

ERROR to the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia.

This was an action of trespass, brought in the Court below, by the plaintiff in error, against the defendant in error, for an assault and battery, and false imprisonment: to which the defendant pleaded the general issue, and a special plea of justification. The plaintiff demurred generally to the special plea, which was adjudged good, and the demurrer overruled: and judgment upon such demurrer was entered for the defendant, and a writ of error brought by the plaintiff. The question arising upon the demurrer will be best explained by giving the defendant's plea at large, as pleaded and adjudged good upon general demurrer, in the Circuit Court, viz.:

And the said Thomas, by the leave of the Court here first had, further defends the force and injury, when, &c. And as to the coming with force and arms, or whatsoever is against the peace; and also as to the assaulting, beating, bruising, battering, and ill-treating of the said John, in manner and form as the said John, in his said declaration, hath above supposed to be done, the said Thomas saith that he is not guilty thereof; and of this he, as before, puts himself upon the country: And as to the imprisonment of the said John, and the keeping and detaining him in confinement, at the time in the said declaration mentioned, to wit, on the said eighth day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, and for the space of two months in the said declaration mentioned, the said Thomas saith, that the said John ought not to have or maintain his action aforesaid against him, because he saith that long before and at the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and during all the time in the said declaration mentioned, a Congress of the United States was holden at the city of Washington, in the county of Washington, and District of Columbia aforesaid, and was then and there, and during all the time aforesaid, assembled and sitting; and that long before and at the time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and during all the time in the said declaration mentioned, he the said Thomas was, and yet is, Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, (then and there being one of the Houses whereof the said Congress of the United States consisted) and by virtue of his said office, and by the tenor and effect of the standing rules and orders ordained and established by the said House for the determining of the rules of its proceedings, and by the force and effect of the laws and customs of the said House, and of the said Congress, was then and there, and during all the time aforesaid, and yet is duly authorized and required, amongst other things, to execute the commands of the said House, from time to time, together with all such process issued by authority thereof, as shall be directed to him by the Speaker of the said House: and that long before, and at the time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and during all the time in the declaration mentioned, one Henry Clay was, and yet is, the Speaker of the said House of Representatives, and by virtue of his said office, and by the tenor and effect of such standing rules and orders as aforesaid, and by the force and effect of such laws and customs as aforesaid, then and there, and during all the time aforesaid, was and yet is, amongst other things, duly authorized and required to subscribe with his proper hand, and to seal with his seal, all writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of the said House: and that long before and at the time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and during all the time in the said declaration mentioned, one Thomas Dougherty was, and yet is, the Clerk of the said House of Representatives; and by virtue of his said office, and by the tenor and effect of such standing rules and orders as aforesaid, and by the force and effect of such laws and customs as aforesaid, then and there, and during all the time aforesaid, was and yet is, amongst other things, duly authorized and required to attest and subscribe with his proper hand, all such writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of the said house: and that long before, and at the time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and during all the time in the said declaration mentioned, and ever since, it was and yet is, amongst other things, ordained, established, and practised, by and under such standing rules and orders as aforesaid, and such laws and customs as aforesaid, that all writs, warrants, subpoenas, and other process issued by order of the said House, shall be under the hand and seal of the said Speaker of the said House, and attested by the said Clerk of the said House; and so being under the hand and seal of the said Speaker, and attested by the said Clerk as aforesaid, shall be executed, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the same, by the said Sergeant at Arms: And the said Thomas, the defendant, further saith, that the said Henry Clay, so being such Speaker of the said House of Representatives as aforesaid, and the said Thomas Dougherty, so being such Clerk of the same House as aforesaid, and he the said defendant, so being such Sergeant at Arms of the same House as aforesaid, and the said Congress, so being assembled and sitting as aforesaid, heretofore and before the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, to wit, on the seventh day of January, in the year aforesaid, at Washington aforesaid, in the county and district aforesaid, it was, in and by the said House, for good and sufficient cause to the same appearing, resolved and ordered, pursuant to the tenor and effect of such standing rules and orders so ordained and established as aforesaid, and according to the force and effect of such laws and customs as aforesaid, that the said John had been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the said House, and of a high contempt of the dignity and authority of the same; wherefore, it was then and there, in and by the said house, further resolved and ordered, in the like pursuance of such standing rules and orders as aforesaid, and of such laws and customs as aforesaid, that the said Speaker should forthwith issue his warrant, directed to the Sergeant at Arms, commanding him to take into custody the body of the said John, wherever to be found, and the same forthwith to have before the said House, at the bar thereof, then and there to answer to the said charge, &c. as by the journal, record, and proceedings of the said resolutions and order in the said House remaining, reference being thereto had, will more fully appear. Whereupon, the said Henry Clay, so being such Speaker as aforesaid, in pursuance of such standing rules and orders as aforesaid, and according to such laws and customs as aforesaid, did, for the execution of the resolutions and order aforesaid, afterwards, and before the time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, to wit, on the said seventh day of January, in the year aforesaid, at Washington aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, as such Speaker as aforesaid, duly make and issue his certain warrant, under his hand and seal, duly directed to the said Thomas, the defendant, as such Sergeant at Arms as aforesaid, (to whom, so being such Sergeant at Arms as aforesaid, the execution of such warrant then and there belonged,) and by the said Thomas Dougherty, so being such Clerk as aforesaid; in and by said warrant, reciting that the said House of Representatives had, that day, resolved and adjudged, that the said John Anderson had been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the said House, and of a high contempt of its dignity and authority; and that the said House had thereupon ordered the said Speaker to issue his warrant, directed to the said Sergeant at Arms, commanding him, the said Sergeant, to take into custody the body of the said John Anderson, wherever to be found, and the same forthwith to have before the said House, at the bar thereof, then and there to answer to the said charge; therefore, it was required that the said Thomas, the defendant, as such Sergeant as aforesaid, should take into his custody the body of the said John Anderson, and then forthwith to bring him before the said House, at the bar thereof, then and there to answer to the charge aforesaid, and to be dealt with by the said House, according to the constitution and laws of the United States: and said Henry Clay, so being such Speaker as aforesaid, then and there, and before the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, delivered the said warrant to the said Thomas, so being such Sergeant as aforesaid, to be executed in due form of law. By virtue, and in execution of which said warrant, the said Thomas, as such Sergeant as aforesaid, afterwards, to wit, at the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, at Washington aforesaid, in order to arrest the said John, and convey him in custody to the bar of the said House, to answer to the charge aforesaid, and to be dealt with by the said House, according to the constitution and laws of the United States, in obedience to the resolutions and order aforesaid, and to the tenor and effect of the said warrant, so issued as aforesaid, went to the said John, and then and there gently laid his hands on the said John to arrest him, and did then and there arrest him by his body, and take him into custody, and did then forthwith convey him to the bar of the said House, as it was lawful for the said Thomas to do for the cause aforesaid: and thereupon such proceedings were had, in and by the said House, that the said John was then and there forthwith duly examined, and heard in his defence, before the said House, at the bar thereof, touching the matter of the said charge; and that such examination was, in and by the said House, and by the resolutions and orders of the same, duly adjourned and continued from day to day, from the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, until the sixteenth day of January, in the year aforesaid; which said examinations were then so adjourned and continued, as aforesaid, from necessity, in order to go through and conclude the examination and defence of the said John, touching the matter of the said charge, before the said House; neither the said examination, nor the said defence, having been finished or concluded before the day last aforesaid: during all which time, to wit, from the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, until the day last aforesaid, it was, in and by the said House, duly resolved and ordered, from day to day, as the said examination was adjourned and continued as aforesaid, that the said John should be remanded, kept, and detained in the custody of the said Thomas, as such Sergeant as aforesaid, by virtue and in execution of the said warrant, in order to have such his examinations and defence finished and concluded, in due form; and the said Thomas, as such Sergeant as aforesaid, afterwards, to wit, at and from the said time when, &c. in the introduction of this plea mentioned, until the said sixteenth day of January, in the year aforesaid, did, in pursuance of the last mentioned resolutions and orders of said House, and by virtue, and in execution of the said warrant, keep and detain the said John in custody as aforesaid, and him did bring and have, from day to day, during the said time, before the said House, at the bar thereof, in order to undergo such examinations as aforesaid, and to be heard in his defence aforesaid, touching the matter of the said charge, to wit, at Washington aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, as it was also lawful for him, the said Thomas, to do for the cause aforesaid: and thereupon afterwards, to wit, on the said last mentioned sixteenth day of January, in the year aforesaid, such further proceedings were had in and by the said House, that it was then and there finally resolved and adjudged, in and by the said House, that the said John was guilty, and convict of the charge aforesaid, in the form aforesaid; and that he be forthwith brought to the bar of the said House, and there reprimanded by the said Speaker, for the outrage by the said John committed, and then that he be forthwith discharged from the custody of the said Sergeant at Arms: and thereupon the said John was then and there, in pursuance of the last mentioned resolutions, order, and judgment, forthwith reprimanded by the said Speaker, and then forthwith discharged from the arrest and custody aforesaid; as by the journals, record, and proceedings of the said resolutions, orders, and judgment in the said House remaining, reference being thereto had, will more fully appear: which are the same several supposed trespasses in the introduction of this plea mentioned, and whereof the said John hath, above in his said declaration, complained against the said Thomas, and not other or different: With this, that the said Thomas doth aver that the said John, the now plaintiff, and the said John Anderson, in the said resolutions, orders, warrant, and judgment respectively mentioned, was, and is, one and the same person: and that at the said several times in this plea mentioned, and during all the time therein mentioned, the said Congress of the United States was assembled and sitting, to wit, at Washington aforesaid, in the county aforesaid: and this the said Thomas is ready to verify: Wherefore he prays judgment, if the said John ought to have or maintain his aforesaid action thereof against him, &c.

     February 20th.
      

Mr. Hall, for the plaintiff in error, made three points.

1. That the House of Representatives had no authority to issue the warrant.

2. That the warrant is illegal on the face of it.

3. That in either case, it is no justification to the officer who executed it.

1. If the house had authority, it must be either in virtue of the Constitution of the United States, of usage and precedent, or as inherent in, and incidental to, legislative bodies. In the Constitution there are but two clauses which can be made to serve the purpose. The first article, section eight, enables Congress to make all laws which may be necessary and proper to effectuate the powers expressly given. But it is obvious, that this merely authorizes the Legislature collectively, not one House separately, to pass certain laws, not mere occasional sentences. And the powers delegated to the United States, being in derogation of the rights of sovereign States, must be construed strictly. 2 Mass. 146. For the same reasons, the authority to determine the rules of its proceedings, (art. 1. sec. 5.) cannot be construed to operate beyond the walls of the House, except on its own members, and its officers. It is observable, also, that this authority is coupled with an authority to punish its members for misbehaviour, and to expel a member. It is a rule of construction, that the text should be considered in connection with the context; but the context, viz. the power to punish and to expel, relates solely to the internal polity and economy of the House. The authority is to determine the rules of its proceedings, not the proceedings themselves, for these are determined by the Constitution itself in the first article. The fifth section of the first article, authorizes the House to punish its members; et enumeratio unius est exclusio alterius. The power of issuing warrants is manifestly judicial. This may be assumed as an axiom. The Constitution ordains, that the judicial power (which is equivalent to all the judicial power) shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and other inferior Courts, (art. 3. sec. 1.) Thus, the right of the Courts to exercise such a power, is exclusive, and an assumption of it by any other department, is an usurpation. Nor can the authority be inferred from usage and precedent. These must be, either of the two Houses of Congress, the State Legislatures, or the British Parliament. On the journals of the House of Representatives, are found the cases of Randal and Whitney, and two others. On those of the Senate, is the case of the editor of the Aurora, &c. Shall we be told, that these proceedings were acquiesced in? The want of spirit in the individual to resist oppression, cannot fairly be construed into acquiescence on the part of the public; since that resistance could be made only by the person immediately affected. As to the usage of the State Legislatures, it is either under colour of their unlimited powers, of express provisions in their Constitution, or of the common law and the usage of Parliament. In this case, unlimited powers and express provision are not pretended; the penal code of the common law is no part of the federal system. Is, then, the authority incident to legislative bodies? An incident is defined, 'a thing necessarily depending upon, or appertaining to, another that is more worthy, or principal.' So the Constitution of the United States, (art. 1. sec. 8.) when regulating the incidental powers of Congress, authorizes it to make such law only as may be necessary to effectuate the express powers. Necessity, then, is the criterion of incident. But is a power to punish the offer of a bribe beyond the verge of the House necessary to enable Congress to perform its duties? The impunity of the offence being the only possible reason of the necessity, if the offender may be adequately punished by the Courts of justice in the ordinary mode of proceeding, the supposed necessity ceases. Bribery of a member of Congress is punishable in the State Courts, and in the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, according to the course of the common law. Redress may also be had before the same tribunals, in case of the battery or libel of a member; and if the existing remedies be insufficient, an act of Congress may be made to supply the deficiency. And though the ordinary remedies should not reach every possible case, it is a rule, that 'if the words of a statute do not extend to a mischief which rarely occurs, they shall not, by an equitable construction, be extended to that mischief; but it is a casus omissus; and the objects of statutes, are mischiefs, quae fraequentius accidunt.' Vaugh. 373. It is evident, that the framers of the Constitution deemed it more prudent to leave such mere possible mischiefs unprovided for, than to incur a certain evil by vesting an extraordinary and dangerous prerogative for their suppression.

2. The warrant is illegal on the face of it. By the fourth article of the amendments to the Constitution, it is provided, that 'no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.' Thus, are prohibited, all warrants which do not rest on oath, and on probable cause. But it is no less necessary, that the warrant should recite the cause in special and the oath. The Constitution is not satisfied with 'a cause' so vague and indefinite, as 'high contempt and breach of privilege.' When it adopts a term from the common law, it adopts, also, the law regulating its incidents and properties, unless repugnant to that instrument. Now, what are the incidents and properties of a warrant at common law? It is said by Dalton, that 'the warrant ought to contain the special cause and matter whereupon it is granted.' Dalt. on Sheriffs 169.

3. If there be either a defect of authority in the House, or illegality in the warrant, it is no justification. That it is none in the former case, has long since been settled in this Court. Little v. Barreme, 2 Cranch 179. As to the latter alternative of the proposition, the constitution, by prohibiting an act, renders it void, if done; otherwise, the prohibition were nugatory. 4 Bl. Com. 491. Thus, the warrant is a nullity. The rights of Congress on the subject of contempts, have been considered similar, and equal to those of the federal Courts. But here we must recur again to the maxim, that when the constitution adopts a term from the common law, it adopts, also, its incidents. At common law, the power to punish contempt is incident to Courts. But 'Congress,' and the 'House of Representatives,' being terms unknown to the common law, can derive no claims through it. Courts enforce the laws; they must, therefore, be clothed with authority to compel obedience to them: whereas, the Legislature is merely deliberative. But, it is asked, are the members to be insulted with impunity, in a manner which will not authorize the interference of a Court? If the insolence be merely by words or gestures, not amounting to slander or assault, the genius of our institutions does not admit of its punishment. Privilege of Congress is reduced by the sixth section, art. 1. of the constitution, to exemption from arrest, and freedom of speech. From the nature of the enumerated privileges, it is evident, that the sole object of giving them was to prevent interruption of the business of the Houses, not to render the person and feelings of members more sacred than those of other citizens. An attempt to bribe a member may be made in Maine or Missouri. The Speaker's warrant may be issued on a mere allegation without oath, commanding the Sergeant at Arms to arrest the accused 'wherever found,' and bring him to the bar of the House. So that he may be dragged from the extreme of the Union, to be tried by a legislative body. Yet the constitution (art. 3. sec. 2.) provides, that 'the trial of all crimes shall be by jury; and that such trial shall be held in the State and District where the offence was committed;' and, also, (art. 5. amendments,) that 'no person shall be held to answer for an infamous crime, except on the presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law.' And further, that 'in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and District.' It is only necessary to compare the conduct of the House of Representatives, in the case at bar, with these provisions, in order to perceive its gross injustice and illegality.

Notes