Madsen v. Kinsella, Warden (343 U.S. 341)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 28, 1952 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 343 U.S. 341 · 72 S. Ct. 699
- Decided
- April 28, 1952
- Term
- October Term 1951
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Burton
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Burton delivered the opinion of the Court. The principal question here is whether a United States Court of the Allied High Commission for Germany had jurisdiction, in 1950, to try a civilian citizen of the United States, who was the dependent wife of a member of the United States Armed Forces, on a charge of murdering her husband in violation of § 211 of the German Criminal Code. The homicide occurred in October, 1949, within the United States Area of Control in Germany. For the reasons hereafter stated, we hold that such court had that jurisdiction. The present proceeding originates with a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by petitioner, Yvette J. Mad-sen, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, seeking her release from the Federal Reformatory for Women in West Virginia where she is serving a sentence imposed by a United States Court of the Allied High Commission for Germany. She contends that her confinement is invalid because the court which convicted and sentenced her had no jurisdiction to do so. The District Court, after a hearing based on exhibits and agreed facts, discharged the writ and remanded petitioner to the custody of the respondent warden of the reformatory. 93 F. Supp. 319. The Court of Appeals affirmed. 188 F. 2d 272. Because of the importance and novelty of the jurisdictional issues raised, we…
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