David Josiah Brewer

“ That a commissioner is not a judge of a court of the United States, within the constitutional sense, is apparent and conceded. He is simply an officer of the circuit court, appointed and removable by that court. ”

“ Now, under the authority of the United States, there are but three courts known in law, the district, circuit, and supreme courts; and as congress alone can, by the constitution, ordain and establish courts, none can exist but such as they create and name. * * * A court is not a judge, nor a judge a court. A judge is a public officer, who, by virtue of his office, is clothed with judicial authorities. A court is defined to be a place in which justice is judicially administered. ”

“ It is axiomatic that statutes creating and defining crimes cannot be extended by intendment, and that no act, however wrongful, can be punished under such a statute unless clearly within its terms. 'There can be no constructive offenses, and, before a man can be punished, his case must be plainly and unmistakably within the statute.' U.S. v. ”