Subpoena

“ Hearts with anxious fears are bounding, Hall of Justice, crowds surrounding, Breathing hope and fear— For to-day in this arena, Summoned by a stern subpoena, Edwin, sued by Angelina, Shortly will appear. Enter Usher SOLO - USHER Now, Jurymen, hear my advice— All kinds of vulgar prejudice I pray you set aside: With stern, judicial frame of mind From bias free of every kind, This trial must be tried. CHORUS From bias free of every kind, This trial must be tried. [During Chorus, Usher sings fortissimo, "Silence in Court!"] ”

“ To attribute caprice to Congress is not to respect its rational purpose when, as here, we find a uniform policy deeply rooted in history even though variously phrased but always directed to the same end of meeting the same constitutional requirement.
I am therefore of opinion that an appearance in response to a subpoena does not of itself confer immunity from prosecution for anything that a witness so responding may testify. There must be conscious surrender of the privilege of silence in the course of a testimonial inquiry. Of course no form of words is necessary to claim one's privilege. ”

“ Refusal to comply with a subpoena to produce papers can be punished only if the witness has power to produce. It is a complete defense for him to show that the papers are not in his possession or under his control. For a subpoena duces tecum does not require a witness 'to sue and labor in order to obtain the possession of any instrument from another for the purpose of its production afterwards by himself. ”

“ There never has been a privilege to disregard the duty to which a subpoena calls. And when Congress turned to the device of immunity legislation, therefore, it did not provide a 'substitute' for the performance of the universal duty to appear as a witness-it did not undertake to give something for nothing. It was the refusal to give incriminating testimony for which Congress bargained, and not the refusal to give any testimony. ”

“ The judicial subpoena power not only is subject to specific constitutional limitations, which also apply to administrative orders, such as those against self-incrimination, unreasonable search and seizure, and due process of law, but also is subject to those limitations inherent in the body that issues them because of the provisions of the Judiciary Article of the Constitution. ”

“ On the other hand, persons summoned as witnesses by competent authority have certain minimum duties and obligations which are necessary concessions to the public interest in the orderly operation of legislative and judicial machinery. A subpoena has never been treated as an invitation to a game of hare and hounds, in which the witness must testify only if cornered at the end of the chase. ”

“ Ordered, that process of subpoena issuing out of this court in any suit in equity, shall be served on the defendant sixty days before the return day of the said process; and farther, that if the defendant, on such service of the subpoena, shall not appear at the return day contained therein, the complainant shall be at liberty to proceed ex parte.' 3 Dall. 320; 1 Peters's Cond. Rep. 141.
In Huger et al. vs. The State of South Carolina, the service of the subpoena having been proved, the court determined that the complainant was at liberty to proceed ex parte. ”

“ We think that respondent's assertion misapprehends the thrust of our cases. Of course, if he complies with the subpoena he will not thereafter be able to undo the substantial effort he has exerted in order by comply. [3] But compliance is not the only course open to respondent. If, as he claims, the subpoena is unduly burdensome or otherwise unlawful, he may refuse to comply and litigate those questions in the event that contempt or similar proceedings are brought against him. Should his contentions be rejected at that time by the trial court, they will then be ripe for appellate review. ”

“ But no person shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter or thing, concerning which he may testify, or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, before said commission, or in obedience to its subpoena, or the subpoena of either of them, or in any such case or proceeding: Provided, That no person so testifying shall be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying. ”

“ It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizens, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be obsta principiis.'
Finally, as the subpoena duces tecum was the initiatory step in the proceedings before the grand jury against this petitioner, as that is the major fact in those proceedings, and as it is agreed that it is not sustainable, it seems to me that the order adjudicating him in contempt should be set aside, and this notwithstanding that subsequently he improperly refused to answer certain questions. ”

“ Not only do the witnesses give their evidence in the presence of the accused, but he has also the right to cross-examine them.
[7] But for this "compulsory process" (called a subpoena) , persons entirely guiltless might be unable to produce evidence in their own behalf. The natural desire of people to "keep out of trouble" would keep some knowing the circumstances of the case from giving their testimony, and others would be afraid to speak up for one under a cloud and with all the power of the government arrayed against him. ”

“ With respect to subpoenas the section provided: 'Any commissioner of immigration or inspector in charge shall also have power to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses before said inspectors and the production of books, papers, and documents touching the right of any alien to enter, reenter, reside in, or pass through the United States, and to that end may invoke the aid of any court of the United States * * *.' Obviously, this provision strictly defined the purposes for which officers of the Service could subpoena witnesses. ”

“ Our task is to fashion an appropriate standard of reasonableness, one that gives due weight to the difficult position of subpoena recipients but does not impair the strong governmental interests in affording grand juries wide latitude, avoiding minitrials on peripheral matters, and preserving a necessary level of secrecy. We begin by reiterating that the law presumes, absent a strong showing to the contrary, that a grand jury acts within the legitimate scope of its authority. ”

“ If the first component of the test is met, the court should then “assess and compare the magnitude of the harms that would be caused to the competing interests” and enforce the subpoena only if its issuance “would cause relatively little harm to the defendant’s First Amendment and privacy rights and . . . is necessary to enable plaintiff to protect against or remedy serious wrongs.” Id. at 976; see also, e.g., Columbia, 185 F.R.D. at 578-79 (requiring demonstration of viable claims and good faith effort at notice before anonymity could be pierced) . ”

“ The custodian's act of producing books or records in response to a subpoena duces tecum is itself a representation that the documents produced are those demanded by the subpoena. Requiring the custodian to identify or authenticate the documents for admission in evidence merely makes explicit what is implicit in the production itself. The custodian is subjected to little, if any, further danger of incrimination. ”

“ By special order of a judge a subpoena may be issued from any court in England, Scotland or Ireland to compel the attendance of a witness out of the jurisdiction. Summons is the universal means of commencing an action in the high court. It is addressed to the defendant, and may be either generally or specially indorsed with a statement of the nature of the claim made. ”

“ The whole object and usefulness of the statute is to relieve the witness of the risks which might induce him to withhold testimony from Congress. It is very customary for one who is asked for information to appear before a committee without requiring the formality of a subpoena. The Act does not strip one of its protection because he may be a cooperative, or even interested, witness ”

“ In short, the Government cannot be required to justify the issuance of a grand jury subpoena by presenting evidence sufficient to establish probable cause because the very purpose of requesting the information is to ascertain whether probable cause exists. ”

“ Of course a witness may always change his mind. A default does not mature until the return date of the subpoena, whatever the previous manifestations of intent to default. But when the Government introduced evidence in this case that respondent had been validly served with a lawful subpoena directing her to produce records within her custody and control, and that on the day set out in the subpoena she intentionally failed to comply, it made out a prima facie case of wilful default. ”

“ The Act under which petitioner goes to prison permits conviction only if he 'willfully makes default' as a witness before a congressional Committee. 2 U.S.C. § 192, 2 U.S.C.A. § 192. The subpoena commanded him to produce the records of 'the Civil Rights Congress' at a given time and place. ”

“ At all events, we do not read his testimony as alleging that where the court has already acquired jurisdiction over a defendant by personal service within the state, and then, after appearance by counsel, the defendant absents himself from the state, and when a supplemental bill is filed in the suit, service on him of a new subpoena within the state is an indispensable prerequisite to the rendition of a personal decree on such supplemental bill. ”

“ I got a lawyer, and, as I said before, even he declined to believe my story, and suggested the insanity dodge. Of course I wouldn't agree to that. I tried to get him to subpoena Ferdinand and Isabella and Euripides and Hawley Hicks in my behalf, and all he'd do was to sit there and shake his head at me. ”

“ It is clear that the protection of the privilege reaches an accused's communications, whatever form they might take, and the compulsion of responses which are also communications, for example, compliance with a subpoena to produce one's papers. ”

“ Testimonial compulsion is an intensely practical matter. If, therefore, a witness seeks to excuse a default on grounds of inability to comply with the subpoena, we think the defense must fail in the absence of even a modicum of good faith in responding to the subpoena. ”

“ Perhaps we are too far removed from the experiences of the past to appreciate fully the consequences that may result from an irresponsible though well-meaning use of the subpoena power. To allow a non-judicial officer, unarmed with judicial process, to demand the books and papers of an individual is an open invitation to abuse of that power. It is no answer that the individual may refuse to produce the material demanded. Many persons have yielded solely because of the air of authority with which the demand is made, a demand that cannot be enforced without subsequent judicial aid. ”

“ This Rule requires the district court to balance the burden of compliance, on the one hand, against the governmental interest in obtaining the documents on the other. [1] A more burdensome subpoena should be justified by a somewhat higher degree of probable relevance than a subpoena that imposes a minimal or nonexistent burden. [2] Against the procedural history of this case, the Court has attempted to define the term "reasonable" in the abstract, looking only at the relevance side of the balance. ”

“ To a visiting Lunarian it would seem strange indeed that in a Terrestrial court of justice it is not deemed desirable for an accused person to incriminate himself, and that it is deemed desirable for a subpoena to be more dreaded than a warrant. ”

“ This is also very important. “Compulsory process” means an order of the court, commonly called “subpoena”, which is served upon witnesses by the marshal, or the sheriff, or other authorized person, commanding them to appear in court for examination before the court and jury as to the truth of matters involved in the accusation against a person on trial.
Here I wish you to recall the unfortunate fact that every little while somebody is complaining about our government as “a rich man's government”. It is often claimed that the poor have no chance for justice. ”

“ The general counsel shall provide notification to the Commission of any intent to issue a subpoena or conduct any other form of discovery pursuant to the investigation. Upon the expiration of the 15-day period which begins on the date the general counsel provides such notification, the general counsel may issue the subpoena or conduct the discovery, unless during such 15-day period the Commission, by vote of a majority of the members of the Commission who are serving at the time, prohibits the general counsel from issuing the subpoena or conducting the discovery. ”

“ It is obvious that, after the illegal or oppressive subpoena has been enforced, the Board on its review of the completed record can no more relieve the consummated oppression than it can unring a bell. ”

“ There is no requirement in the proposed statute that the person injured by defamatory testimony shall have an opportunity to examine the nature of the adverse testimony. He has no right of confrontation nor cross-examination, and his request to subpoena witnesses on his behalf falls within the arbitrary discretion of the Commission. There is no right to subpoena witnesses.' Statement of Representative Kilday during House floor debate, 103 Cong.Rec. 8673: 'The bill provides that witnesses may be accompanied by counsel, for what purpose? ”

“ No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books, records, correspondence, documents, or other evidence in obedience to a subpoena issued by the Board on the ground that his testimony or the evidence required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to penalty or forfeiture ”

“ And Sir John Leach said: 'When parties defendants are resident in England, and are brought upon subpoena here, the court has full authority to act upon them personally, with respect to the subject of the suit, as the ends of justice require, and with that view to order them to take or to omit to take any steps or proceedings in any other court of justice, whether in this or in a foreign country. This court does not pretend to any interference with the other courts.' It acts upon the defendant by punishment for his contempt, for his disobedience of the court. ”