7 Wis. 630 | Wis. | 1859
This case presents for our consideration several novel, interesting and important questions. The petitioner states substantially in his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, that he is imprisoned and restrained of his liberty in the city of Madison, by one Francis Massing; that he is not committed nor detained by virtue of the final judgment or decree of any competent tribunal, of civil or criminal jurisdiction, nor by virtue of any process, judgment or decree, or execution mentioned or enumerated in section two, chap. 124, of the R. S.; but the cause and pretence of his imprisonment and restraint, according to his best knowledge and belief, is exercised and continued by the said Massing for the following alleged and pretended causes, that is to say,: That on or about the 21st day of January, A. D. 1858, the legislature of Wisconsin passed a joint resolution of the following import: “Resolved, by the Assembly, the Senate concuring, That a joint committee, composed of three members of the Senate, and five of the Assembly, be raised, whose duty shall be, fully and impartially, to investigate into the frauds, bribery, and corrupt acts, reported, or alleged to have been perpetrated or committed by members of the legislature, or others, in the disposal, or in procuring the disposal, by the legislature of this State, in the year 1856, of the lands granted to this State, to aid in the construction of railroads, by act of Congress, approved June 3, 1856; and into any and all cases of alleged bribery and other corrupt acts, on the part of any rail road company, by any of the officers, stockholders' or agents thereof, or other individuals, in securing, or attempting to secure, the lands, so as aforesaid granted, for themselves, or for any, and what company, or companies, or in. the procuring the appointment of themselves, or others as directors of the Wisconsin and Superior railroad company, or in procuring, or attempting to procure the resignation of any such director, a*
Said committee shall also have power to appoint a clerk or clerks, whose duty it shall be to do such writing as shall be directed by said committee.
Said committee shall also, among other things, by any member thereof, have power to administer to persons brought or appearing before them as witnesses, all necessary oaths; and moreover, may exercise the powers conferred- on a- legislative committee by section twenty-two of chapter fifty-four of the Revised Statutes.
Said committee shall, with all reasonable dispatch, discharge the duty hereby imposed, and report to the legislature the facts found and the testimony taken by them;-
The said resolution was adopted;
That a joint committee was appointed as contemplated t>y the said resolution, and that on of about the 8th day of February,- instant, thé petitioner was served with an instrument or process purporting tó be a subpoena, and to be signed by the Speaker and chief clerk of the assembly, commanding him, the petitioner,- to personally appear before said joint committee,
Resolved, That the refusal of Thomas Falvey to answer the questions put to him by a member of the joint investigating committee, on the 9th instant, and which questions were certified to this house by Denison Worthington, chairman of said committee, and are now in writing on file with the chief clerk of this house, be, and said refusals are hereby declared a contempt of this house. That the petitioner prayed to be heard in answer to said charge of contempt, by counsel, which was then and there refused, and that the petitioner gave an answer to the said charge in writing,which the Assembly declared by resolution to be insufficient, and that the said Assembly did, on the 11th day of February, resolve as follows:
Resolved, That the time of passing judgment upon Thomas Falvey for his contempt already adjudged by this house for refusing to answer questions put to him by a member of the joint investigating committee, be and the same is deferred until other order in the premises be taken by this house.
And the petitioner averred, that, as he was advised and believed, the legislature had no constitutional power or authority to pass the said joint resolution, or the said Assembly to issue the said subpoena, or thus to arrest and arraign the said petitioner ; and further, as the petitioner believed, the said Massing had no sufficient warrant, process or precept, in virtue of which he now imprisons and restrains the petitioner; and the petitioner prayed that a writ of habeas corpus might issue to the said Massing, commanding him to have the petitioner before this court, to be dealt with according to law. To the writ issued in accordance with the prayer of the petitioner, Massing made return in substance, that he was the Sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly, one of the houses of the legislature then in session, and that he held and detained the petitioner as such Sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly, under and by virtue of the first resolution above mentioned, passed by the Assembly on the 11th day of February.
The counsel who opened the argument for the petitioner, seemed to anticipate that some question might be made as to the right and power of this court to inquire into the author
Had, then, the present legislature the constitutional right
Still it is said that this power of the legislature to investigate must have a limit somewhere, otherwise a committee might, for partizan and malicious purposes, penetrate and drag to light the most secret and private matters of any citi
For the reasons suggested, and others which might be given, I have no doubt of the power of the legislature to investigate the matters named in the joint resolutions, either by a joint committee, or by a committee of either or both houses acting independently, or the legislature might have investigated into these matters in any other manner which to it might seem most convenient and proper. But it is objected that if the investigation is had by a joint committee, a witness in refusing to appear before a committee, thus constituted, or in refusing to answer questions put by such a committee, is not guilty of a contempt of either house of the legislature, but is guilty of a contempt of the joint committee, or in other words, of the legislature, which it is contended is an absurdity in its terms. How, it is asked, can a witness be punished for this double offence ? By which house of the legislature ? Or will both houses assume jurisdiction, and punish twice for
Another objection taken to this commitment, is, that the petitioner prayed to be heard by counsel in answer to the charge of contempt, and that this request was denied by the assembly. The assembly in refusing to hear the petitioner by counsel before adjudging him in contempt, might have acted arbitrarily and improper. Concede that it did, and yet it was a matter resting solely in the discretion of that body. And as the jurisdiction of the assembly, acting in this matter, was final, the court having no appellate power over it, it is not competent for us to revise the proceedings of the assembly, or suspend its judgment because it has made a mistake or abused its discretion in the premises. This point was most fully discussed and settled in the case of Brass Crosby, 3 Wil., 188, and
Again it is insisted that there was no sufficient warrant o commitment made out and signed by the speaker of the assembly, setting forth clearly the cause of the commitment, and authorizing the sergeant-at-arms to keep the petitioner in close custody. The petitioner was in the custody of the sergeant at arms, and the assembly by a resolution ordered that he be continued in custody by its officers, for the term of ten days, as a punishment for the contempt of the petitioner, as adjudged by that body, in failing to appear before the joint investigating committea Here the cause of the commitment is fully set forth in the resolution or judgment of the assembly; and is not the resolution as valid and sufficient to authorize the sergeant-at-arms to hold the petitioner in custody as would be a speaker’s warrant ? The respondent returns that it is by virtue of this resolution that he holds in custody the petitioner, and this, I think, is a good and sufficient return to the writ of habeas corpus. These observations entirely dispose of this case, but we were requested to state our views in regard to some provisions of the act of the legislature, approved February 3rd, IS58, which I will now proceed to do, in a brief manner.
It must be admitted that some of the provisions of this act are unusual, and wear a harsh and arbitrary aspect; but I do not think they are obnoxious to any constitutional objection. The second section of the act makes the neglect of a witness to appear before the committee, or his refusal to answer questions pertinent to the matter of inquiry, a contempt of the house whose process had been disobeyed. It is objected that the committee might ask a witness, called before it, if he had received a bribe, as a consideration for voting in a particular manner upon the disposition of the land grant, and that if the witness refused to answer the question, such refusal would be
But again, it is said that although the answer might not expose the witness to a criminal prosecution or penalty, yet it might tend directly to degrade his character, and for this reason he ought not to be compelled to answer. In the courts of justice, witnesses are not excused from answering questions tending to disgrace them. The authorities upon the point are not uniform, but Prof. Greenleaf lays it down as the better opinion, that where the transaction as to which the witness is interrogated, forms any part of the issue to be tried, the witness will be obliged to give evidence, however strongly it may reflect on his character. 1 Greenl. Ev., section 454; The People vs. Mather, 4 Wend., 250, and cases there cited.
Considerations of State policy have led. parliament to adopt a much wider latitude in the examination of witnesses, than
The conclusion to which I have arrived upon the case is, that the petitioner must be remanded to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms.
■ Petitioner remanded accordingly.