| 词条 | United States v. Kirby |
| 释义 |
|Litigants=United States v. Kirby |ArgueDate=April 5 |ArgueYear=1869 |DecideDate=April 15 |DecideYear=1869 |FullName=United States v. Kirby |USVol=74 |USPage=482 |ParallelCitations=7 Wall. 482; 19 L. Ed. 278; 1868 U.S. LEXIS 1023 |Prior=On appeal from the Circuit Court for the District of Kentucky |Subsequent= |Holding=All laws must be read as if they contain exceptions to prevent "an absurd consequence". In particular, it is absurd to prosecute a law enforcement officer for "obstructing the mail" because he has arrested a postal worker suspected of a serious crime. |SCOTUS=1867-1870 |Majority=Field |JoinMajority=Chase, Nelson, Grier, Clifford, Swayne, Davis |NotParticipating=Miller |LawsApplied= }} United States v. Kirby, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 482 (1868),{{ref|citation}} was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that statutes must be constructed reasonably. FactsIn 1868, Farris, who was a carrier of the mail, was indicted for murder in the Circuit Court of Gallatin County, Kentucky. The state court judge issued a bench warrant to Kirby, the sheriff of Gallatin County, who seized Farris and brought him before the state court. However, the federal government then obtained an indictment from a grand jury charging Sheriff Kirby with "knowingly and willfully obstructing or retarding the passage of the mail", a federal offense under an Act of March 3, 1825. The question of "whether the arrest of the mail-carrier upon the bench warrant from the Circuit Court of Gallatin County was, in the circumstances, an obstruction of the mail within the meaning of the Act of Congress," was certified to the US Supreme Court. HoldingMr. Justice Field, for a unanimous court, answered the certified question in the negative by applying the cardinal rule "that all laws should receive a sensible construction," and that literal interpretations which "lead to injustice, oppression, or an absurd consequence" should be avoided. The Court concluded that "The reason of the law in such cases should prevail over its letter", and therefore ruled that the law could not be applied to the sheriff's actions. See also
External links
| case = United States v. Kirby, {{ussc|74|482|1868|Wall.|7|el=no}} | courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/88029/united-states-v-kirby/ | findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/74/482.html | googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6550131058590404962 | justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/74/482/ | loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep074/usrep074482/usrep074482.pdf | openjurist =https://openjurist.org/74/us/482 6 : 1868 in United States case law|United States Supreme Court cases|United States Supreme Court cases of the Chase Court|United States statutory interpretation case law|History of Kentucky|Criminal cases in the Chase Court |
| 随便看 |
|
开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识，基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识，是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。