Plainclothes officer

“ If our legislation is to apply only to the States, it is perfectly clear that it is totally unnecessary, inasmuch as we cannot pass a criminal law as applicable to a State; nor can we indict a State officer as an officer. ”

“ If any inspector or other officer be opposed, or shall have reason to suspect that he will be opposed or obstructed in the discharge of any duty required of him under this act, he shall have power to summon and command the force of any county or corporation to aid him in the discharge of such duty, and every person who shall resist, obstruct, or refuse to aid any inspector or other officer in the discharge of such duty, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined and imprisoned as in other cases of misdemeanor. ”

“ And all that is required when there is an office to make an officer de facto, is that the individual claiming the office is in possession of it, performing its duties, and claiming to be such officer under color of an election or appointment, as the case may be. It is not necessary that his election or appointment be valid, for that would make him an officer de jure. ”

“ Where a statute embodies a policy of state-wide concern, an officer, although chosen in a political subdivision and acting within that limited territory, may be charged with the duty of enforcing the statute in the interest of the state and not simply in the interest of the locality where he serves. This is especially true in the case of a prosecuting officer who acts for the entire state, as a part of its machinery of enforcement, in proceedings against violators of the state statute. ”

“ Without expressing an opinion as to the necessity of issuing a regular commission to a deputy marshal, or as to the authority of the clerk of the district court to administer the oath to such officer, it is clear that, on proof of the loss of the written authority issued by the marshal to a deputy whom he had appointed, it was permissible to offer oral evidence of the fact of appointment and of the services of the deputy. ”

“ The purpose of the complaint, then, is to enable the appropriate magistrate, here a Commissioner, to determine whether the 'probable cause' required to support a warrant exists. The Commissioner must judge for himself the persuasiveness of the facts relied on by a complaining officer to show probable cause. He should not accept without question the complainant's mere conclusion that the person whose arrest is sought has committed a crime. ”

“ Neither an officer nor an agent can properly be said to have acted under color of a law which neither gave him nor any other person authority to do the act in question, nor can an officer be said to have acted under the authority of his office unless he has some appearance of right to it and is in possession and acting in that capacity, as the acts of a mere intruder or usurper of an office, without any colorable title, are undoubtedly wholly void both as to individuals and the public. ”

“ When a person is found thus openly in the occupation of a public office, and discharging its duties, third persons having occasion to deal with him in his capacity as such officer are not required to investigate his titled, but may safely act upon the assumption that he is a rightful officer. ”

“ The acts of an officer de facto, within the sphere of the powers and duties of the office he assumes to hold, are as valid and binding with respect to the public and third persons as if they had been done by an officer de jure. ”

“ The government contends that, in view of the nature of these questions, the case is not an appropriate one for mandamus, since ordinarily mandamus against a public officer will not lie unless the right of the petitioner and the duty of the officer, performance of which is to be commanded, are both clear. ”

“ The question whether a duty imposed by statute upon a ministerial or executive officer, the performance or non-performance of which affects the rights of others, is merely directory to the officer and only confers on parties injured a right of action against the officer, or on the other hand, is a condition essential to fix the rights of other parties as between themselves, is a very common, but often a very difficult one to decide. ”

“ It is doubtless true, as a general rule, that where the officer whose duty it is to issue a license refuses to do so, and that duty is merely ministerial, and the applicant has complied with all the conditions that entitle him to it, the remedy by mandamus would be appropriate to compel the officer to issue it. That rule would apply to cases where the refusal of the officer was willful and contrary to the statute under which he was commissioned to act. ”

“ Whoever, being an officer, clerk, or other person in the service of the United States or any department or agency thereof, directly or indirectly gives or hands over to any other officer, clerk, or person in the service of the United States, or to any Senator or Member of or Delegate to Congress, or Resident Commissioner, any money or other valuable thing on account of or to be applied to the promotion of any political object, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both. ”

“ That is, the Land Department has authority to make regulations which are not inconsistent with law, and are appropriate to the performance of its duties (Revised Statutes, §§ 161, 441, 453, 2478, Comp. Stat. 1913, §§ 235, 681, 699, 5120) , and when, by a valid regulation, the Department requires that an affidavit shall be made before an officer otherwise competent, that officer is authorized to administer the oath within the meaning of § 125. The false swearing is made a crime, not by the Department, but by Congress; the statute, not the Department, fixes the penalty. ”

“ It is undoubted that both in England and in this country it has been held that it is contrary to public policy to enforce in a court of law, in favor of a public officer, whose duty by virtue of his employment required the doing of a particular act, any agreement or contract made by the officer with a private individual, stipulating that the officer should receive an extra compensation or reward for the doing of such act. ”

“ Rule 5 (a) provides that 'An officer making an arrest * * * shall take the arrested person without unnecessary delay before the nearest available' committing magistrate and when the arrested person appears before the magistrate 'a complaint shall be filed forthwith.' Petitioner contended that the officers had violated this rule in detaining him as they did without taking him before a committing magistrate. ”

“ Many things may have to be considered, and the action of an officer charged with that duty should not lightly be disturbed by the courts, and only when it is clear that a mistake has been made or a wrong done. ”

“ He is commanded by the legislative department to do some one thing in which a citizen is interested and he refuses to do it. The court have said in such a matter as that, being purely ministerial and directed by law, we will require that officer to do that thing. ”

“ That if the jury find, from the evidence, that the defendant was, from the 24th April 1816 to the time of the statement of the account read in evidence, an officer of the general staff of the army; he is entitled, for the time he has served, to the pay and emoluments allowed by law to the officers of the general staff of the rank of major. ”

“ The adoption by the United States of the wrongful act of an officer is, of course, an adoption of the act when and as committed, and causes such act of the officer to be, in virtue of the statute, a rightful appropriation by the government, for which compensation is provided. ”

“ It is not, therefore, admitted, that any express authority is given by either statute, that such a Court Martial as is contemplated for the trial of delinquents under the 5th section of the act of 1795, is to be composed of the same number of officers, organized in the same manner as these rules and articles contemplate for persons in actual service. If any resort is to be had to them, it can only be to guide the discretion of the officer ordering the Court, as matter of usage, and not as matter of positive institution. ”

“ The latter act does not set aside or make void process or precepts in the hands of the outgoing marshal, or require him to hand them over to the new officer. It authorizes 'like process' to issue to him; and the word 'shall' is used because it is the most proper in conferring a power on the officer, and is not incompatible with the choice given to the plaintiff in the first clause of the section. The laws of the several States affecting liens on land, and the process by which they may be sold for the satisfaction of judgments, differ very widely. ”

“ It also may be assumed that it was a jurisdictional requirement that, if the appointing authority determined that no officer of the Judge Advocate General's Department was then 'available for the purpose,' such authority was restricted to the appointment of 'an officer of some other branch of the service selected by (him) * * * as specially qualified to perform the duties of law member.' (Emphasis supplied.) If the officer who was appointed met neither requirement, it may be assumed that the court-martial would have been without jurisdiction. ”

“ The transmission of the commission to the officer is not essential to his investiture of the office. If, by any inadvertence or accident, it should fail to reach him, his possession of the office is as lawful as if it were in his custody. ”

“ If it is made to appear to an Exchequer judge that any decree or judgment in any such proceeding as aforesaid has not been duly enforced by the sheriff or other officer whose duty it is to enforce the same, such judge shall appoint some officer whose duty it shall be to enforce the judgment or decree ”

“ As it requires the oath to be made by the complainant in person, and does not in terms require it to be administered by the justice or within the district, it is a more reasonable construction to permit the oath to be taken anywhere before a proper officer than to require the personal attendance of the complainant at the filing of the complaint. ”

“ The sheriff or other officer shall not deliver to the plaintiff, his agent or attorney, the property so taken, until there has been executed by one or more sufficient sureties of the plaintiff, a written undertaking to the defendant, in at least double the value of the property taken, to the effect that the plaintiff shall duly prosecute the action and pay all costs and damages which may be awarded against him. ”

“ The appropriate authority may deal with the complaint according to the appropriate authority’s discretion, if satisfied that the conduct complained of, even if proved, would not justify a criminal or disciplinary charge.
(3) In any other case the appropriate authority shall appoint an officer from the appropriate authority’s force or from some other force to investigate the complaint.
(4) A chief officer shall provide an officer to be appointed, if a request is made to him for one to be appointed under subsection (3) above. ”

“ Save to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law, no such officer shall consult any person or party on any fact in issue unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate; nor shall such officer be responsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of any officer, employee, or agent engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecuting functions for any agency. ”

“ When he has made an appointment, he has exercised his whole power, and his discretion has been completely applied to the case. If, by law, the officer be removable at the will of the President, then a new appointment may be immediately made, and the rights of the officer are terminated. ”

“ When any officer, dismissed by order of the President, makes a written application for trial by court-martial, setting forth, under oath, that he has been wrongfully dismissed, the President, as soon as practicable, shall convene a general court-martial to try such officer on the charges on which he was dismissed. A court-martial so convened shall have jurisdiction to try the dismissed officer on such charges, and he shall be held to have waived the right to plead any statute of limitations applicable to any offense with which he is charged. ”

“ The magistrate, if the complaint be made to him, shall issue his warrant to summon the owner before him, and compel him to give bond and security to suffer the complainant to appear at the next court to petition the court to be admitted to sue in forma pauperis. If the owner refuse, the magistrate shall order the complainant into the custody of the officer serving the warrant, at the expence of the master, who shall keep him until the sitting of the court, and then produce him before it. ”

“ Here, then, is proof, supplied by the appellant, that the law had not been complied with. The acts of an official deputy are evidence of the acts of his principal, and are binding on all who fall within the legal scope of those acts. But it is not perceived how the rights of suitors can be at all dependent upon the unofficial and individual confidence of one officer, even when that confidence may not have been misplaced. In this case, there is no proof that it has been fulfilled; for no person shows that the notices had been in fact put up and published according to the statute. ”

“ By a subaltern officer, for failing to take an oath, to attend any court or muster, armed as directed, for each and every such offence he shall forfeit and pay a sum, at the discretion of the court of inquiry, not exceeding ten dollars; failing to repair to the place of rendezvous, armed as required, when ordered upon any call from the President, he shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars, to be adjudged of and determined by the respective legionary courts of inquiry.Non-commissioned officer’s neglect. ”