Hugo Black

Name: In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court
Author: Hugo Black

Summary

“In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Hugo Black. It explores elements such as judge, contempt and grand jury.

Quotes from In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court (Hugo Black)

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ It would be very strange if our system of law permitted a judge to act as a grand jury and then try the very persons accused as a result of his investigations. Perhaps no State has ever forced a defendant to accept grand jurors as proper trial jurors to pass on charges growing out of their hearings. [7] A single 'judge-grand jury' is even more a part of the accusatory process than an ordinary lay grand juror. Having been a part of that process a judge cannot be, in the very nature of things, wholly disinterested in the conviction or acquittal of those accused. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ The view we take makes it unnecessary for us to consider or decide any of those questions except the due process challenge to trial by the judge who had conducted the secret 'one-man grand jury' proceedings. [6]
A fair trial in a fair tribunal is a basic requirement of due process. Fairness of course requires an absence of actual bias in the trial of cases. But our system of law has always endeavored to prevent even the probability of unfairness. To this end no man can be a judge in his own case and no man is permitted to try cases where he has an interest in the outcome. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ It is one thing to hold that a judge has too great an interest in a case to permit the rendition of a fair verdict when his compensation is determined by the result he reaches. It is quite another thing to disqualify a state judge as having too great an interest to render a due process judgment when his sole interest, as shown by this record, is the maintenance of order and decorum in the investigation of crime-an interest which he shares in common with all judges who punish for contempt. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ Petitioners had all this. They are not entitled to more.
We do not see how it can be held that it violates fundamental concepts of fair play and justice for a state judge after a full court trial to punish a contempt previously observed when acting as a grand jury, when it has been held that it is perfectly proper for a federal judge to summarily punish a contempt previously observed in open court. It seems to us that the Court has imposed a more stringent requirement on state judges as a matter of due process than we have imposed on federal judges over whom we exercise supervisory power. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ We held that before such a conviction could stand, due process requires as a minimum that an accused be given a public trial after reasonable notice of the charges, have a right to examine witnesses against him, call witnesses on his own behalf, and be represented by counsel. The question now before us is whether a contempt proceeding conducted in accordance with these standards complies with the due process requirement of an impartial tribunal where the same judge presiding at the contempt hearing had also served as the 'one-man grand jury' out of which the contempt charges arose. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ When the contempt is not committed in open court, we require that the criminal conviction be in public and that he individual be given a full hearing, with an opportunity to defend himself against the charges proffered and to make a record from which to appeal. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ Fair trials are too important a part of our free society to let prosecuting judges be trial judges of the charges they prefer. [9] It is true that contempt committed in a trial courtroom can under some circumstances be punished summarily by the trial judge. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ White, the other petitioner, was also summoned to appear as a witness in the same 'one-man grand jury' hearing. Asked numerous questions about gambling and bribery, he refused to answer on the ground that he was entitled under Michigan law to have counsel present with him. The 'judge-grand jury' charged White with contempt and ordered him to appear and show cause. The judge who had been the 'grand jury' then tried both petitioners in open court, convicted and sentenced them for contempt. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, In re Murchison — Opinion of the Court

“ There were no formalities, no hearings, no taking of evidence, no arguments and no briefs. We held that such a procedure was permitted by Rule 42 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A., which codified the "prevailing usages at law." ”

Hugo Black

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