Case Summary

Joseph Walton petitioned for habeas corpus against Sheriff L. C. Smith on January 10, 1906. Walton had been arrested for the crime of "Barbering on Sunday" after he shaved a guest in the Tourist Hotel. His petition argued that the charged action was not illegal, that the law that he was charged under violated the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees to equal protection and due process, and that the Justice of the Peace had no jurisdiction to issue an arrest warrant. Judge Cornelius H. Hanford ordered that Smith show cause for Walton's detention. Hanford stated on February 9 that the State Supreme Court had decided that the statute was not unconstitutional and stated that a Sunday observance law was not considered invidious discrimination under the Supreme Court case Petit v. Minnesota. Hanford remanded Walton to the custody of Lewis and stated that Walton could appeal to the Supreme Court. In an order from November 20, 1909, Hanford stated that Walton could receive his recognizance by surrendering himself to the custody of the United States Marshal to be remanded to the custody of Lewis, which suggests that Walton was released at some point.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Barbering on sunday

Sites of significance

• King County Jail (Seattle, Washington)

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody|released on bail

Case Citation

RG21 US District Courts, Western District of Washington, Seattle, Records of the Northern Division, Case Files, 1890-1972, No. 1376

Source material(s)

Case File

Length of case file

Between 21 and 30 pages

Repository(s)

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

State

• Washington

Point(s) of law cited

Laws of Washington 1903, Section 1, p. 68 ("An Act to Prohibit the Carrying on of the Business of Barbering on Sunday, and Providing a Penalty for the Violation Thereof," approved March 7th, 1903 by the Washington State Legislature) Fourteenth Amendment State of Washington v. Alfred Bergfeldt (Washington Supreme Court) Petit v. Minnesota, 177 U.S. 164 26 Amer. & Eng. Encyc. Law, (2d Ed.) 620, 640, 642. In re Frederichs, 51 Fed. Rep. 747, 149 U. S. 70. In re Davenport, 102 Fed. Rep. 540 Brown v. Urquehart, 139 Fed. Rep. 846.

Tag(s)

• 14th amendment

People

• Davis, P. V. (authority ordering detention)
• Walton, Joseph (petitioner)
• Walton, Joseph (bound party)
• Smith, L. C. (holding party)
• Smith, L. C. (responding party)
• Smith, L. C. (respondent)
• Cutts, (petitioner attorney)
• Dorety, Frederic G. (petitioner attorney)
• Gordon, John B. (authority ordering detention)
• Mackintosh, Kenneth (respondent attorney)
• Hanford, Cornelius Holgate (judge)

• Additional parties

  Weter, James R. (Notary Public)

  Ayres, A. Reeves (Clerk)

  Moore, A. N. (Deputy Clerk)

  Fuller, Melville W. (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, listed on writ)

  Hopkins, C. B. (U.S. Marshal)

  Stringer, John (Deputy Marshal)

  Mackintosh, Kenneth (Notary Public)

  McKay, K. (Witness)

  Hopkins, P. M. (Deputy Clerk)

  Covington, W. S. (Deputy Clerk)

  Drake, James C. (Clerk)

  Wright, B. O. (Deputy Clerk)