Wagner v. White
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Criminal Law; Insanity; Commitment of Insane Prisoners; Habeas Corpus. Hearing on an appeal by tbe petitioner from a decree of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia overruling his demurrer to a return by the superintendent of the government hospital for the insane to a petition for the writ of habeas corpus, and remanding the petition to the custody of the respondent.
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Criminal Law; Insanity; Commitment of Insane Prisoners; Habeas Corpus. Hearing on an appeal by tbe petitioner from a decree of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia overruling his demurrer to a return by the superintendent of the government hospital for the insane to a petition for the writ of habeas corpus, and remanding the petition to the custody of the respondent. The Court in the opinion stated the facts as follows: The appellant, Harrison Wagner, through his next friend, Isaac E. Hitt, Jr., sued out a writ of habeas corpus in the supreme court of the District of Columbia,…
1Opinion of the CourtChief Justice Shepard
The first assignment of error is that the original order committing the appellant to the hospital for the insane did not constitute a lawful commitment under due process of law, and that the provisions of the Code relating thereto are unconstitutional. Sec. 927 [31 Stat. at L. 1340, chap. 854] provides for an inquiry into the sanity of an accused person who has been found guilty of a crime. There can be no reasonable objection to the validity of the provision. It makes ample pro*558vision for the inquiry which is conducted with due regard to the protection of the defendant. It was invoked by the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- In Re BuchananCalifornia Supreme Court · 1900
- Gardner v. JonesCalifornia Supreme Court · 1899
3Cited by3 opinions
- Overholser v. TreiblyCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1945
- Joseph W. Hunter v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1963
- Haislip v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1942