Case Summary
Although the original petition for a writ of habeas corpus is missing in the case file, based on the docket, Carol Williams filed a petition against Alta Berger on December 9, 1919. Judge George A. Day allowed this to issue. However, included in the case file was Berger's return to writ. Her return to writ states that, on December 8, 1919, the courts prosecuted Williams on a charge of vagrancy and prostitution. She was found guilty and sentenced to thirty days in county jail. Berger claimed that she managed the Detention Hospital and that, by an Omaha ordinance, certain venereal diseases, such as "syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid" were "declared to be contagious, infectious, communicable and a menace to public health." She claimed that the law declared that it was unlawful for any person with such disease(s) to knowingly expose other people and required the Health Commissioner and their deputies and assistants to examine all persons convicted in a court for prosecution for the diseases. If said person was said to have a venereal disease, the person must be detained at the hospital. They had examined Williams, and her result was positive for venereal disease, so they committed her to the Girls' Detention Home for examination and treatment. On December 13, 1919, Williams requested a continuance (it is unclear why), and the judge ordered a five-day continuance. However, on December 18, 1919, the judge dismissed the proceeding because Williams failed to appear by counsel or otherwise in court.
Case Information
Petition type(s)
Petition subtype(s)
Sites of significance
Outcome
Writ dismissed
Fate of bound party
Unknown
Case Citation
Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series: Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 22: ca. 1919 - 1920, p. 10; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 88: Doc. 21-725 to 22-50, Nov. 6, 1919 - Dec. 2, 1919, No. 22-10
Source material(s)
Docket |
Case File
Length of case file
Between 11 and 20 pages
Repository(s)
State
Tag(s)
