United States v. Bailey

Mr. Justice Blackmun,

with whom Mr. Justice Brennan joins, dissenting.

The Court’s opinion, it seems to me, is an impeccable exercise in undisputed general principles and technical legalism: The respondents were properly confined in the District of Columbia jail. They departed from that jail without authority or consent. They failed promptly to turn themselves in when, as the Court would assert by way of justification, ante, at 413, 415, the claimed duress or necessity “had lost its coercive force.” Therefore, the Court concludes, there is no defense for a jury to weigh and consider against the…