In Re Chapman

Citations

• 156 U.S. 211
• 15 S. Ct. 331
• 39 L. Ed. 401
• 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2128

Syllabus

<p>C., being summoned before a committee of the Senate of the United States and questioned there as to certain transactions, declined to answer the questions upon the grounds that they related to his private business, and that they were not authorized by the resolution appointing the committee. He was thereupon indicted in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia under the provisions in Kev. Stat. §§ 102, 103, 104. He demurred to the indictment, and, the demurrer being overruled, an appeal was taken to the District Court of Appeals, where the indictment was sustained as valid, and the cáse remanded. He then applied to this court for permission to file a petition for the issue of a writ of habeas corpus.</p> <p>Held,</p> <p>(1) That the orderly administration of justice will be better subserved by declining to exer.cise appellate jurisdiction in the mode desired until the conclusion of the proceedings;</p> <p>(2) That if the judgment goes against the petitioner and a writ of error lies, that is his proper and better remedy;</p> <p>(3) That if a writ of error does not lie, and the Supreme Court of the District is without jurisdiction, the petitioner may then apply for a writ of habeas corpus.</p> <p>It is a judicious and salutary general rule not to interfere with proceedings pending in the Courts of the District of Columbia, or in the Circuit Courts of the United States, in advance of their final determination.</p>