Court official

“ That the United States district attorney, in virtue of his official duty and to the extent that criminal charges are susceptible of being preferred by information, has the power to present such informations without the previous approval of the court; and that by the same token the duty of the district attorney to direct the attention of a grand jury to crimes which he tninks have been committed is coterminous with the authority of the grand jury to entertain such charges. ”

“ Attached to the office of every official who may be called upon to try criminal cases is a law expert, to whom the judge or magistrate may refer, when he has any doubt, in private, just as our unpaid justices of the peace in England refer for guidance to the qualified official attached to the court. ”

“ Granting that, as has been said, the judge during the term is a living record, and may alter and supply from memory any order, judgment, or decree which has been pronounced, -and this, because he is presumed to retain his own action in his recollection,-yet after the term has elapsed the exercise of such a power to the extent of supplying an order upon which jurisdiction depends, in the absence of any entry, minute, or memorandum to proceed by, or of any statutory provision expressly allowing it, ought not to be conceded in criminal cases. ”

“ In this country the judges of the superior courts of record are only responsible to the people, or the authorities constituted by the people, from whom they receive their commissions, for the manner in which they discharge the great trusts of their office. ”

“ In the earlier judiciary acts of the United States, the general jurisdiction of the courts of the United States, as depending upon the suit being of a criminal or of a civil nature, was usually defined by the words 'any cause, civil or criminal' (Rev. St. § 637) ”

“ Settled rule is that those courts will not recognize any suit, civil or criminal, as regularly before them, if prosecuted in the name and for the benefit of the United States, unless the same is represented by the district attorney, or some one designated by him to attend to such business, in his absence, as may appertain to the duties of his office. ”

“ That the acts and proceedings of these special tribunals need not be according to the course of the common law, but must be according to the exigencies of the state. Such has been the practice from the earliest period of the commonwealth, allowing finally, on appeal or otherwise, a trial by jury, since 1785. 7. That the proceedings of such tribunals, however constituted, are entitled to respect; they are not to be collaterally questioned; and after a length of time, everything is to be presumed in their favor, as in favor of any other tribunal. ”

“ If I am not in error, an attorney is as much an officer of the court as the clerk, and it would be a novel thing in a government to have a court to administer law which denied the supremacy of the government itself. ”

“ Its use has been very much extended in modern times, and now it may be said to be an established remedy to oblige inferior courts and magistrates to do that justice which they are in duty, and by virtue of their office, bound to do. ”

“ Here a special tribunal has been created for a special purpose. It has been clothed with power to compel the attendance of witnesses, 'and to finally determine the right of each claimant or occupant to purchase' from the United States, under the provisions of the act of congress, the ground he occupies or claims. The duties of the tribunal are judicial in their character, and their decisions evidently intended to be binding on the parties. ”

“ It is none the less the judgment of a judicial tribunal dealing with questions judicial in their nature, and presented in the customary forms of judicial proceedings, because its effect may be to aid an administrative or executive body in the performance of duties legally imposed upon it by congress in execution of a power granted by the constitution. ”

“ As we said in that case 'An essential characteristic of (the federal system) is the manner in which, in civil common-law actions, it distributes trial functions between judge and jury * * * (assigning) the decisions of disputed questions of fact to the jury.' Byrd v. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII THE CHARACTER OF THE BAR AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE BENCH Every lawyer is an officer of the court as fully as is the judge or the clerk. He has, indeed, a longer term of office than is generally accorded to them, for he holds his position for life, or during good behavior.
Courts could not exist under the American system without lawyers to stand between litigants and the judge or jury. It is a system that requires written pleadings, originally very artificial in form and still somewhat so. ”

“ And, indeed, if the law be that a Circuit Court of the United States, upon whisperings in the ear of one of its judges on the streets, or upon information derived from rumor, or in some other irregular way, that an attorney has committed a public offence, having no relation to the discharge of his professional duties, can summon him to answer for the offence in advance of trial or conviction and summarily punish him, it is time the law was changed by statute. Such a power cannot be safely intrusted to any tribunal. ”

“ Higley to be the almost uniform rule, among the people who make the common law of England the basis of their jurisprudence, to have a distinct tribunal for the establishment of wills, and the administration of the estates of men dying either with or without wills, which tribunals are variously called 'prerogative courts,' 'probate courts,' 'surrogate courts,' 'orphans' courts,' etc. ”

“ But while we find no support to the proposition of the counsel for plaintiffs in error in the special provisions of the statute relied on, it is not to be denied that the argument is much stronger when founded on the general doctrine that when the law has confided to a special tribunal the authority to hear and determine certain matters arising in the course of its duties, the decision of that tribunal, within the scope of its authority, is conclusive upon all others. ”

“ In this case the writ runs in the name of the president of the United States to the judges of the court of criminal appeals, is tested in the name of the chief justice of the supreme court of the United States, signed by the clerk of the court of criminal appeals, and allowed by its presiding judge. ”

“ A person aggrieved may bring suit, in which the Attorney General may be permitted to intervene. Thirty days' written notice before filing any such action must be given to the appropriate authorities of a State or subdivision the law of which prohibits the act complained of and which has established an authority which may grant relief therefrom. ”

“ THE QUALITY OF JUSTICE A young man sitting at the counsel table, and grown diffident the moment he finds himself on his feet, rises to address the court.
“If the court pleases,” he begins, and the court awakes with a start from a revery of dinner.
“Eh? Who is he?” the court whispers to the district attorney.
The officer scowls back and answers that he does not know.
The young man has heard.
“I am John Forrest, if the court pleases, admitted yesterday.”
“Precisely, sir,” smiles the court, icily; “but you are interrupting the trial of a cause. ”

“ All that is requisite to their validity is that, when not taken for matters occurring in open court, in the presence of the judges, notice should be given to the attorney of the charges made and opportunity afforded him for explanation and defence. The manner in which the proceeding shall be conducted, so that it be without oppression or unfairness, is a matter of judicial regulation.
The authority of the court over its attorneys and counsellors is of the highest importance. They constitute a profession essential to society. ”

“ A high national court, formed of members of the tribunal of cassation and of high jurors, shall have jurisdiction over the offences of the ministers and principal agents of the executive power, and over crimes which shall assail the general security of the state, when the legislative body shall have rendered a decree of accusation. ”

“ It is created by the Attorney General as part of his office, he names its members, and they are responsible only to him. It operates under his supervision and direction, and its every decision is subject to his unlimited review and revision. ”

“ And I do hereby authorize and empower the said judge to make and establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the exercise of his jurisdiction, and to appoint a prosecuting attorney, marshal, and clerk of the said court, who shall perform the functions of attorney, marshal, and clerk, according to such rules and regulations as may be made and established by said judge. * * * A copy of this order, certified by the Secretary of War, and delivered to such judge, shall be deemed and held to be a sufficient commission. Let the seal of the United States be hereunto affixed. ”

“ Throughout the whole trial, the Commission took the law from the Judge-Advocates with the unquestioning docility usually manifested by a jury on such matters in civil courts. In truth, the main function of a Judge-Advocate appears to be to furnish law to the Court, as in civil courts the main function of the Judge is to furnish law to the jury. ”

“ But it is apparent that the statute requires a judicial proceeding in a competent court. What is a competent court is not specifically stated, but it undoubtedly means a court of general jurisdiction, whether it be a state court or a federal court ”

“ The Criminal Court of the District, as a court of general criminal jurisdiction, possessed the power to strike the name of the plaintiff from its rolls as a practicing attorney. This power of removal from the bar is possessed by all courts which have authority to admit attorneys to practice. It is a power which should only be exercised for the most weighty reasons, such as would render the continuance of the attorney in practice incompatible with a proper respect of the court for itself, or a proper regard for the integrity of the profession. ”

“ Can it be doubted that upon application from those whose interests are involved in the performance of his duties by the marshal, it is the right and the duty of the court in such a case to correct the irregularities of its officer, and to compel him to perform his duty? There is inherent in every court a power to supervise the conduct of its officers, and the execution of its judgments and process. ”

“ It is hard to believe that this Court should hold that a member of the legal profession is constitutionally entitled to remove his case from the court in which he is an officer to the public and press, and express to them his grievances against the conduct of the trial and the judge. ”

“ Justice REED concurs in the judgment solely on the ground that the circumstances leading to the enactment of this statute dictate the Court's otherwise unique reading of the term "officers of the court." ”

“ My objection to the power exercised by the president in this case arises from the nature of the judicial office, when held by a judge of a court of record, and from its conflict with the tenure of the office conferred by the law under which the appellant was appointed.
1. The idea essentially appertaining to and involved in the judicial office is that its exercise must be free from restraint, without apprehension of removal or suspension or other punishment for the honest and fearless discharge of its functions within the sphere of the jurisdiction assigned to it. ”

“ If any of the persons so summoned and returned as jurors shall not appear, or be challenged and set aside, the justice before whom said cause is to be tried shall direct the constable to summon and return forthwith a tales, each of whom shall be subject to the same exceptions as the jurors aforesaid, so as to make up the number of twelve, after all causes of challenge are disposed of by the justice ”

“ Inferior judges are appointed normally for life, but under conditions prescribed by law they may be dismissed or relieved of their duties by decision of the High Court. Finally, the High Court constitutes a tribunal before which, upon charges brought by either the sovereign or the lower chamber, members of the States-General, heads of the ministerial departments, governors-general, members of the Council of State, and commissioners of the crown in the provinces, may be prosecuted upon charge of offenses committed in office. ”

“ Offenses of a lesser grade are called misdemeanors. The court has jurisdiction over all civil cases. The judge of the superior court has the power to issue various writs for the enforcement of the law, and grant charters to all corporations, except banking, insurance, railroad, canal, navigation, express, telephone, and telegraph companies. Cases appealed from justice courts, county courts, courts of ordinary, and certain city courts lie to the superior courts. ”

“ To appoint a marshal or a sheriff to execute the process of a court to enforce the judgment of that court is not such a wide departure from the judicial function as to appoint a receiver to collect taxes, but no case has been cited of the exercise of even the former power by the court, much less the appointment, by a court of chancery, of an officer to execute the processes of a court of law. ”

“ From this position, claimed by counsel as a legitimate deduction from the statute, it is argued, that the clerk, having been appointed by an exercise of power wholly illegal and void, nay, even without color of authority, his acts, too, must be merely void, and not entitled to the effects properly attributable to the acts of one who may be considered as an officer de facto, in contradistinction to him whose commission and qualification are in all respects regular, and who therefore may be called an officer de jure and de facto. ”

“ Because no judge or presiding officer is provided in said proceeding whose duty it is to instruct the jury on the law involved in the questions raised, and to make rulings on evidence which may be tendered for or against the person said to be insane. ”