In re ''In re'', Latin for "in the matter f, is a term with several different, but related meanings. Legal use In the legal system in the United States, ''In re'' is used to indicate that a judicial proceeding may not have formally designated advers ...

Neagle'', 135 U.S. 1 (1890), is a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision holding that federal officers are immune from State prosecution when acting within the scope of their federal authority.

Facts

Deputy U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

David Neagle David Butler Neagle (October 10, 1847—November 28, 1925) was a Deputy U.S. Marshal who, while guarding Associate Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field, killed former California Chief Justice David S. Terry when he assaulted Field. Neagle w ...

(1847–1925) was appointed by the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

to serve as Justice Stephen J. Field's bodyguard while Field rode circuit in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. On August 14, 1889,

David S. Terry David Smith Terry (March 8, 1823 – August 14, 1889) was an American politician and jurist who served as the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of California; he was an author of the state's 1879 Constitution. Terry won a duel aga ...

approached Field inside the

Lathrop, California Lathrop is a city located south of Stockton in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The 2022 California Census reported that Lathrop's population was 30,659. The city is located in the San Joaquin Valley in Northern California at th ...

train station in California's

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

. Terry, a former

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

justice, had a grudge with Field. Fearing Terry was about to attack Field, Neagle shot and killed Terry. Field and Neagle were arrested by the San Joaquin Sheriff, Thomas Cunningham. Cunningham later released Field on his own recognizance but took Neagle to jail. The United States Attorney in San Francisco filed a

writ of habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

for Neagle's release. The circuit court issued the writ after a hearing and ordered Neagle's release. Sheriff Cunningham, with the aid of the State of California, appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In a 6-2 decision (Justice Field abstained), the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court. The decision recognized that, as the source of all executive authority, the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

could act in the absence of specific statutory authority since there were no laws that provided for protection of federal judges by the executive branch. Constitutionally, the decision determined that the executive branch exercised its own "necessary and proper" authority.

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External links

* * United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court 1890 in United States case law United States Marshals Service History of San Joaquin County, California Lathrop, California {{SCOTUS-stub

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