Case Summary

Sam Plastino came to the United States in 1897 with his parents from Italy and applied for citizenship in March 1911. In January 1912, Plastino was arrested under the charge that he was unlawfully within the US and found receiving, sharing, or deriving benefits from the earnings of prostitution and was ordered deported. Plastino was convicted for violating the Mann Act, by having transported one Goldie Cardiff from Seattle to San Francisco for the purposes of prostitution. The conviction rested on Cardiff's testimony stating that she had given Plastino everything she had earned since September 1910 and later brokered a deal where she would get half of all her future earnings, with Plastino receiving the other half. Supplementary research shows that Cardiff later recanted her statements under pressure and a marriage proposal from Plastino, yet the jury was told to disregard her denial as she was "obviously perjuring herself." Plastino petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus stating he was in custody and about to be deported. The petition stated Plastino did not receive a fair trial and alleged misconduct against Immigration Inspector, T.M. Fisher. Plastino stated that he was never informed such a charge was issued against him, never given an opportunity to inspect the warrant or evidence, never offered counsel, and never informed about the proceedings for his deportation. The petitioner further stated that the transcription of the examination contains forged questions and answers written into the record, as the transcription depicted Plastino waiving his right to an attorney if his brother, Joe Plastino, did not retain one for him. Both Sam and Joe Plastino refuted this in an affidavit. Judge Neterer authorized the petition and committed Plastino to bail in the sum of $1,000 and later ruled the petitioner to be discharged. Judge Neterer based his decision on the fact that Plastino did not have a fair trial and the evidence produced does not support the charge. His decision stated that the testimony raised to question in the petition regarding counsel was bound in a different colored ribbon and raises a doubt as to whether the statement was made by the petitioner or added later to the record. Judge Neterer further stated that while the petitioner may be a "moral degenerate" likely pointing to Plastino's multiple past charges of rape, larceny, and vagrancy, it was the right of the accused to be advised of the privilege of counsel before he was examined. A few weeks after Judge Neterer's decision, by an oral motion of the U.S. attorney, the files of the original records of the Department of Commerce were removed from the record.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Violation of white slave traffic act
• Immigration

Sites of significance

• Pierce County Jail (Tacoma, Washington)

Outcome

Writ allowed

Fate of bound party

Released from custody

Case Citation

RG21 US District Courts, Western District of Washington, Seattle, Records of the Northern Division, Case Files, 1890-1972, No. 3393

Source material(s)

Case File

Length of case file

Between 51 and 75 pages

Repository(s)

• National Archives and Records Administration, Seattle Branch, Washington (Seattle, WA) (Seattle, Washington)

State

• Washington

Point(s) of law cited

Mann Act|Immigration Act of 1907|

People

• Plastino, Sam (petitioner)
• Plastino, Sam (bound party)
• King, John (petitioner attorney)
• Glasgow, J.M. (petitioner attorney)
• White, Henry M. (respondent)
• White, Henry M. (holding party)
• White, Henry M. (responding party)
• Allen, Clay (respondent attorney)
• Moodie, Albert (respondent attorney)
• Neterer, Jeremiah (judge)
• Cushman, Edward E. (judge)
• Cable, Benjamin S. (authority ordering detention)
• Keefe, Daniel J. (authority ordering detention)

• Additional parties

  Crosby, Frank L. (Clerk)

  Boyle, John M. (U.S. Marshal)

  Cardiff, Goldie (Alleged prostitute)

  Richards, Ethel (Alleged prostitute)

  Baron, Helen (Female minor in State v. Plastino)

  Plastino, Joe (Brother of petitioner)

  Thiel, C.M. (Clerk)

  Hershberger, F.M. (Clerk)

  Huggni, Alice (Deputy Clerk)

  Fisher, T.M. (Immigrant Inspector)

  Griffin, Van G. (Notary Public)

  Williams, William (Commissioner of Immigration)

  Plastino, Michele (Mikaele) (Father of petitioner)

  Keagy, Charles E. (Immigration Inspector)

  DeBruler, Ellis (Commissioner of Immigration)

  Harris, Walter P. (Stenographer)

  Sargent, John H. (Acting Commissioner of Immigration)

  Dechnish, Charles F. (Notary Public)

  Scarpelli, Antonio (Surety)

  Sanecht, Francie L. (U.S. District Attorney)