United States v. Worms

NELSON, Circuit Justice.

The defendants were arrested in March last on a charge of smuggling, and were committed, on a preliminary warrant, for examination, for an indefinite time. They remained imprison, without any steps being taken for their examination, till the case was brought before me, they having then been in prison from one to two months. I directed that the examination should take place immediately, or I would discharge them from custody.

The commitment in the first instance was erroneous, as it should have been for a short, fixed period of time. In these cases of arrest, the…