- Irvin v. Dowd
"Irvin v. Dowd" was a
United States Supreme Court case from 1959 (and later, 1961). [http://supreme.justia.com/us/359/394/case.html] It involved an escaped convict's (Leslie Irvin ) denial of appeal. The convict sought a federalwrit of habeas corpus ."Irvin v. Dowd" was one of the first of many cases to underscore the "swing vote" role played by Justice
Potter Stewart , who recently had come to the Supreme Court and was caught between the two warring camps of justices - the liberal camp of JusticesEarl Warren andWilliam Brennan , and the conservative one headed by JusticeFelix Frankfurter . [Eisler, Kim Isaac (1993). A Justice for All: William J. Brennan, Jr., and the decisions that transformed America. Page 159. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671767879] Stewart was in the ideological center of the Supreme Court at the time. [http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1960/1960_41/ideology/#opinions]Factual background
The "Irvin" case centered on a series of murders in
Evansville, Indiana , from 1954 to early 1955. [Eisler, page 159] In April of 1955, local police arrested Leslie Irvin, announcing he had confessed to the crimes. [Eisler, 159.] Irvin's lawyers sought a change of venue for the case to avoid local biases, but they lost; a third of the jury was seated despite statements showing they had prejudged the defendant to be guilty. [Eisler, 159.] Irvin was sentenced to death in January of 1956; he soon escaped from jail, leaving a note maintaining his innocence and alleging police misconduct and public prejudging of his case, as well as asking his lawyer to appeal. [Eisler, 159-160.] Irvin was soon recaptured, and the Indiana Supreme Court would reject his motions for appeals. [Eisler, 160.]Irvin's lawyer came to the Supreme Court asking for a writ of habeas corpus. [Eisler, 160.]
Legal Issues
The case came to the Supreme Court to decide the question of whether Irvin's escaping from custody forfeited his right to appeal. [Eisler, 160.] Beyond that, the justices on the court prone to
judicial restraint - Frankfurter, Harlan, Clark, and Whittaker - were usually not supportive of the idea of a federal court issuing a writ of habeas corpus in a state prosecution case. [Eisler, 160.] Brennan and Warren were concerned with the jurors who were allowed to sit on the case despite having prejudged the outcome. [Eisler, 160.]upreme Court Voting
Justice Stewart at first felt that court precedent, especially the case of "Brown v. Allen", precluded the Supreme Court from getting involved in the state prosecution. [Eisler, 161.] Brennan managed to distinguish the Brown case and convinced Stewart to vote with him, bringing about a 5-4 majority for the liberals. [Eisler, 161.] Brennan wrote an opinion forcing the state of Indiana to consider Irvin's appeal on the basis of the jury issue; he did not reach the matter of Irvin's escape. [Eisler, 161.]
Outcome
Justice Brennan wrote an opinion holding that Irvin's exhaustion of state remedies did not bar a federal court's granting habeas corpus. [http://supreme.justia.com/us/359/394/case.html] Stewart issued a one-line concurrence distinguishing the case from "Brown v. Allen". [http://supreme.justia.com/us/359/394/case.html]
The four judges in the minority - Frankfurter's bloc - saw the case as an example of the Court overreaching. [Eisler, 161.] Frankfurter resented the interposition of federal court review over state criminal actions. [Eisler, 161.]
Aftermath
Though Justice Brennan had begun his Supreme Court career voting with Justice Frankfurter about half the time, the Irvin case marked the end of a meaningful relationship between the two justices. [Eisler, 160-161, 164.] Frankfurter convinced a distinguished Harvard Law professor, Henry Hart, to focus on the case in the law school's "Harvard Law Review" as a means of character-assassinating Justice Brennan. [Eisler, 162-164.]
Despite ideological divides, when the case came back to the Supreme Court nearly two years later, the Court managed to write a unanimous opinion again remanding the case to state court, due to the original trial depriving Irvin of Fourteenth Amendment due process. [http://supreme.justia.com/us/366/717/case.html] Justice Clark's majority opinion underscored the need for impartiality in the jury: "In essence, the right to jury trial guarantees to the criminally accused a fair trial by a panel of impartial, 'indifferent' jurors." [http://supreme.justia.com/us/366/717/case.html] [Criminal Procedure. By James R. Acker, David C. Brody. Page 528. 2004. Jones and Bartlett.]
Justice Frankfurter wrote a concurrence on the media and its coverage's way of preventing jurors from delivering impartial verdicts. [http://supreme.justia.com/us/366/717/case.html]
References
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