Lees v. United States
Citations
- 150 U.S. 476
- 14 S. Ct. 163
- 37 L. Ed. 1150
- 1893 U.S. LEXIS 2398
- 3 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 2546
Syllabus
<p>A district court of the United States has jurisdiction over an action to recover a penalty imposed for a violation of the act of February 26, 1885, '23 Stat. 332, c. 164, “to prohibit the importation and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor in the United States, its Territories, and the District of Columbia.”</p> <p>. The act of February.26,1885,23 Stat. 332, c. 164, prohibiting the importation of aliens under contract to perform labor in the United States is constitutional.</p> <p>An action to recover a penalty under that act, though in form a civil action, is unquestionably criminal in its nature, and the.defendant cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself.</p> <p>It is well settled that, instead of preparing separate bills for each separate matter, all the alleged errors of a trial may be joined in .one bill, of exceptions; and the exception in this case is specific and direct to the one error of compelling the defendant to become a witness against himself, and comes within this rule.</p>
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- “[Although the recovery of a penalty is a proceeding criminal in nature, yet in this class of cases it may be enforced in a civil action, and in the same manner that debts are recovered in the ordinary civil courts”
- action to recover statutory penalty for illegal transportation of aliens; privilege applies
- fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination applicable under statute imposing fixed monetary penalty
- \the term 'including' 8 For the current opinion
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Brewer, Harlan
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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