People v. Phillips
New York Circuit Court
Summary conviction for vagrancy. On the 31st of August, 1846, Eliza Phillips presented to the circuit judge a petition for a writ of certiorari to certify the cause of her detention in the penitentiary on Blackwell’s Island.
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Summary conviction for vagrancy. On the 31st of August, 1846, Eliza Phillips presented to the circuit judge a petition for a writ of certiorari to certify the cause of her detention in the penitentiary on Blackwell’s Island. On the 3d September, the keeper made a return to the certiorari, that she was detained in his custody by virtue of a commitment by one of the police magistrates in the following words: City acto County op New York, ss : By--, Esq., one of the special justices for preserving peace in the city of New York: To the constables and policemen of the said city, and every of them,…
1Opinion of the Court
The Circuit Judge:
I have been so frequently called upon to discharge • from the penitentiary, prisoners committed on *389summary convictions for vagrancy, on the ground of some alleged defect or irregularity in the proceedings of the sitting .magistrate, that I have deemed it advisable, on this occasion, to give the subject a full examination, in the hope that the matter, being thoroughly understood, the corrective for the evil may once for all be applied.
Our Eevised Statute (vol. i. p. 633), declares that if a magistrate be satisfied, by the confession of the offender, or by competent testimony,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
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- Mayor v. MasonSupreme Court of the United States · 1803
- Brackett v. StateSupreme Court of Vermont · 1802
3Cited by1 opinion
- Funkhouser v. CoffinIllinois Supreme Court · 1921