COLLINS v. SMITH, Warden of California State Prison at Repress

COLLINS v. SMITH, Warden of California State Prison at Repress. (Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. March 14, 1927.) No. 4966. Habeas corpus <@=45(1) — Validity of state statute cannot be challenged in federal courts by habeas corpus. Validity of state statute under which sentence was imposed cannot be challenged in federal courts by application for writ of habeas corpus. Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Southern Division of the Northern District of California; George M. Bourquin, Judge. Application for habeas corpus by John L. Collins against J. J. Smith, as Warden of the State Prison at Repress, Cal. From the order, petitioner appeals. Affirmed. John L. Collins, in pro. per. U. S. Webb, Atty. Gen., and J. Charles Jones, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee. Before GILBERT, RUDKIN, and DIETRICH, Circuit Judges. Rehearing denied May 2, 1927. [MAJORITY — PER CURIAM.] PER CURIAM. The appellant applied to the court below for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain his discharge from imprisonment under a judgment of one of the courts of the state of California, on the ground that the statute under which the sentence was imposed is unconstitutional and void. The rule is so well settled that the validity of a state statute cannot be challenged in this way that the question is no longer an open one. Urguhart v. Brown, 205 U. S. 179, 27 S. Ct. 459, 51 L. Ed. 760; In re Whitacre (C. C. A.) 17 F.(2d) 767, decided February 21, 1927. The order is affirmed.