Facts
U.S. Marshal David Neagle was appointed by the attorney general to serve as a bodyguard to Justice Stephen J. Field while he rode circuit in California. David S. Terry, a disappointed litigant with a grudge against Field, approached and appeared to be about to attack Field. Neagle shot and killed him. Neagle was arrested by California authorities on a charge of murder. The United States sought to secure the release of Neagle on a writ of habeas corpus. In the absence of a law specifically authorizing the appointment of bodyguards for Supreme Court Justices, the government relied on a statute that made the writ available to those "in custody for an act done or omitted in pursuance of a law of the United States."
Read more about this topic: In Re Neagle
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