People of State of New York v. Eno/Dissent Field

by Stephen Johnson Field

United States Supreme Court

155 U.S. 89

People of State of New York  v.  Eno

Mr. Justice FIELD, dissenting.

I am unable to agree with the majority of the court in the reversal of the judgment of the circuit court of the United States directing the dismissal of proceedings against the defendant upon the indictments against him found in the state court of New York.

The 711th section of the Revised Statutes provides that the courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the several states, of all crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the United States; and section 5209 of the Revised Statutes, relating to national banks, provides that 'every president, director, cashier, teller, clerk, or agent of any association, who embezzles, abstracts, or wilfully misapplies any of the moneys, funds, or credits of the association; * * * or who makes any false entry in any book, report, or statement of the association, with intent in either case to injure or defraud the association or any other company, body politic or corporate, or any individual person, or to deceive an officer of an association, or any agent appointed to examine the affairs of any such association; and every person who with like intent aids or abets any officer, clerk, or agent in violation of this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned not less than five years nor more than ten.' The circuit court was thus cognizable, under the authority of the United States, of the several offenses for which the defendant was indicted; and the jurisdiction vested in the court of the United States was exclusive of all jurisdiction of the offenses in the state courts. It would, therefore, subserve no useful purpose to proceed with the cases in the state court, and thus ascertain what that court might have done or would have done had it possessed jurisdiction. Until its jurisdiction was established, its determination, either one way or the other, would be only an idle proceeding. It could not, under any circumstances, take cognizance of the cases charged against the defendant, and hold him under them. He was, therefore, entitled to his discharge whenever the matter was properly brought to the attention of the federal court.

Mr. Justice SHIRAS concurred.