Craig et al. v. Harney, Sheriff (331 U.S. 367)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 19, 1947 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 331 U.S. 367 · 67 S. Ct. 1249
- Decided
- May 19, 1947
- Term
- October Term 1946
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Opinion of the Court by Mr. Justice Douglas, announced by Mr. Justice Reed. Petitioners were adjudged guilty of constructive criminal contempt by the County Court of Nueces County, Texas, and sentenced to jail for three days. They sought to challenge the legality of their confinement by applying to the Court of Criminal Appeals for a writ of habeas corpus. That court by a divided vote denied the writ and remanded petitioners to the custody of the county sheriff. 149 Tex. Cr. —, 193 S. W. 2d 178. The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because of the importance of the problem and because the ruling of the Texas court raised doubts whether it conformed to the principles announced in Bridges v. California, 314 U. S. 252, and Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U. S. 331. Petitioners are a publisher, an editorial writer, and a news reporter of newspapers published in Corpus Christi, Texas. The County Court had before it a forcible de-tainer case, Jackson v. Mayes, whereby Jackson sought to regain possession from Mayes of a business building in Corpus Christi which Mayes (who was at the time in the armed services and whose affairs were being handled by an agent, one Burchard) claimed under a lease. That case turned on whether Mayes’ lease was forfeited because of non-payment of rent. At the close of the testimony each side moved for an instructed verdict.…
Excerpt of a 56,011-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.