Case Summary

On February 3, 1923, Harry Little, a 17-year old Black teenager, was convicted of vagrancy in the police court of Douglas County, Nebraska. Judge Frank M. Dineen sentenced him to 60 days in the county jail. However, on February 9, 1923, Esther A. Johnson, the chief juvenile probation officer for Douglas County, filed a writ of habeas corpus against Omaha sheriff Michael L. Endres for Little's release. She stated that since Harry Little had already been declared a delinquent minor and was a ward of the juvenile court before his arrest, the juvenile court had complete custody over him and the police court had no jurisdiction to keep him in jail. The case was dismissed on January 27, 1925, long after the teen's sentence had elapsed.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Vagrancy

Sites of significance

• Douglas County Jail (Omaha, Nebraska)
• The Police Court of the City of Omaha (Omaha, Nebraska)

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. 25: ca. 1922 - 1923, p. 623; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 111: 25-546 to 25-634, Jan. 2, 1923 - Feb. 15, 1923, No. 25-623

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 6 and 10 pages

Repository(s)

• Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

Sections 1173 and 1174 of the Complete Statutes of the State of Nebraska for 1922

Tag(s)

• Children
• Technical vagrancy

People

• Johnson, Esther A. (petitioner)
• Endres, Michael L. (M. L. Endres) (respondent)
• Endres, Michael L. (M. L. Endres) (holding party)
• Little, Harry (bound party)
• Day, L. B. (judge)
• Dineen, Frank Michael (F. M. Dineen) (authority ordering detention)

• Additional parties

  Smith, Robert [clerk]

  Steele Jr., Asel [deputy]