United States v. Hamilton

United States v. Hamilton
United States v. Hamilton
	Supreme Court of the United States
Decided February 20, 1795
Full case name	The United States v. Hamilton
Citations	3 U.S. 17 (more) 3 Dall. 17; 1 L. Ed. 490; 1795 U.S. LEXIS 326
Holding
	A defendant committed on a charge of treason is bailable.
Court membership
	Chief Justice John Jay Associate Justices James Wilson · William Cushing; John Blair Jr. · James Iredell; William Paterson
Case opinion
Majority	Wilson, joined by unanimous

a withUnited States v. Hamilton, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 17 (1795), was a United States Supreme Court case in which a defendant charged with treason was released on bail, despite having been imprisoned under a warrant of committal issued by a district court judge.^[1] The Judiciary Act of 1789 provided that "upon all arrests in criminal cases, bail shall be admitted, except where the punishment may be death, in which cases it shall not be admitted but by the supreme or a circuit court, or by a justice of the supreme court, or a judge of a district court, who shall exercise their discretion therein, regarding the nature and circumstances of the offence, and of the evidence, and the usages of law."^[2] Ordinarily, habeas corpus was used to release prisoners held by the executive authority, but not those committed under a court order.^[3] Hamilton's attorney argued that the district court judge did not hold a hearing before issuing the warrant for his commitment to jail, and that the affidavits alleging treasonous activity were weak, while the government contended that the Judiciary Act did not grant the Supreme Court the jurisdiction to review the district court's decision unless there was new information or misconduct. The Supreme Court granted bail, without addressing the arguments of either attorney.^[4]

References

^ Reports of cases ruled and adjudged in the several courts of the United States, and of Pennsylvania: held at the seat of the federal government, Volume 3 (Banks Law Pub. Co., 1905), pg. 16
^ An Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, sess. i, chap. 20, 1 Stat. 73 (1789), sec. 33.
^ Duker, William (1980). A Constitutional History of Habeas Corpus. Wesport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 225.
^ The United States v. Hamilton, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 17 (1795).