Case Summary

Mack Dwyer filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against sheriff Michael L. Clark on August 29, 1919. Dwyer's petition stated that he was charged with vagrancy on August 28, 1919. The Police magistrate found Dwyer guilty, fined him $100, and committed him to the Omaha County Jail until the judgment was complied with. Dwyer's petition stated that the law that he was charged under—Section 290 of the Criminal Code of the State of Nebraska—mandated that the fine for the offense should not exceed $50. Thus, Dwyer stated that the judgment was null, void, and illegal. On August 29, 1919, Judge William A. Redick commanded that Clark bring the body of Dwyer before the court for a hearing on August 30, 1919. Dwyer's application was granted. The appearance docket stated that Dwyer remained in jail but would be discharged upon payment of a $50 fine, suggesting that the judge voided the $100 fine and reduced it to $50.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Vagrancy
• Refusal or inability to pay fine

Sites of significance

• Douglas County Jail (Omaha, Nebraska)

Outcome

Writ allowed

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. 21: ca. 1919, p. 534; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 86: Doc. 21-472 to 21-604, Aug. 13, 1919 - Sep. 18, 1919, No. 21-534

Source material(s)

Case File | Docket

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Repository(s)

• Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

Section 290 of the Criminal Code of the State of Nebraska|Paragraph 8865 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska for 1913

Tag(s)

• Technical vagrancy

People

• Dwyer, Mack (petitioner)
• Dwyer, Mack (bound party)
• Redick, William A. (judge)
• Clark, Michael L. (respondent)
• Clark, Michael L. (responding party)
• Clark, Michael L. (holding party)
• Foster, Charles E. (police magistrate)
• Foster, Charles E. (authority ordering detention)
• Estelle, Lee S. (judge)
• Lee, George A. (petitioner attorney)

• Additional parties

  Palmtag (Witness)

  Welch, P. G. (Deputy Sheriff)

  Shotwell, A. V. (County Attorney)

  Smith, Robert (Clerk)

  Steere, Asel Jr. (Deputy Clerk)

  Cohen, Robert A. (Clerk)

  Murray, T. B. (City Prosecutor)

  Bremers, R. H. (Notary Public)