New York Ex Rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman, 278 U.S. 63 (1928)
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New York ex Rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman
No. 2
Submitted October 11, 1927
Decided November 19, 1928
278 U.S. 63
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK
Syllabus
1. Jurisdiction of this Court over an appellate case cannot be established by consent or acquiescence of parties. P. 66.
2. The validity of a state statute may be drawn in question under § 237a of the Judicial Code, on the ground of its being repugnant to the federal Constitution, without the use of any particular form of words. If the record as a whole shows, either expressly or by clear intendment, that this claim of invalidity and ground therefor were brought to the attention of the state court with fair precision and in due time, the claim is to be regarded as having been adequately presented. P. 67.
3. To show that such claim of invalidity was denied by the state court, it is not necessary that the ruling shall have been put in direct terms; it suffices if the necessary effect of the judgment has been to deny the claim. P. 67.
4. A proceeding in habeas corpus in a state court, in keeping with the state practice, to obtain the release of one held in custody under a criminal charge upon the ground that the state statute on which the charge is based violates the federal Constitution is a " suit " within the meaning of Jud.Code, § 237a, and an order of the state court of last resort refusing the discharge is a final judgment in that suit and subject to review by this Court. P. 70.
5. The privilege of being and remaining a member of an oath-bound association within a state cannot be within the privilege and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, since it is not a privilege arising out of United States citizenship. P. 71.
6. To require associations having an oath-bound membership to file with a state officer sworn copies of their constitutions, oaths of membership, etc., with lists of their members and officers, and to provide that persons who become or remain members, or attend meetings, knowing that such requirement has not been complied with, shall be arrested and punished, is a reasonable exercise of the police power, and not a violation of such persons’ liberty under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 72.
7. Such regulations do not violate the equality clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when applied to one class of oath-bound associations, and not to another class, if the class so regulated has a tendency to make the secrecy of its purposes and membership a cloak for conduct inimical to the personal rights of others and to the public welfare, while the other class is free from that tendency. P. 73.
8. Confining the regulations to associations having a membership of twenty or more persons is not an unreasonable discrimination. P. 77.
241 N.Y. 405 affirmed.
Error to a final order of the Supreme Court of New York, entered upon remittitur from the Court of Appeals. The latter court affirmed the Appellate Division in affirming an order discharging the relator’s writ of habeas corpus. See 123 Misc. 859; 213 App.Div. 414.