John Lee v. E. B. Swope, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz, California

The district court’s order here appealed from is as follows:

The district court refused relief because the petition for the writ reveals upon its face that even if the petitioner’s attack upon the validity of his conviction by a United States [Army] Court Martial was upheld, it would not act to release the petitioner from custody, since he is also being held under a former unexpired sentence, the validity of which is not attacked.

Petitioner claims he has been denied “due process” under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution, in that the first, or valid sentence, will not expire for around six years and that he may be prejudiced if the validity of the second sentence is not inquired into promptly. The basis for the claim of invalidity is that petitioner was tried by a United States [Army] Court Martial after petitioner had been restored to civilian status, for an alleged offense committed while he was a member of the United States Army.

Petitioner seeks to bolster his claim that the district court should have taken jurisdiction and decided the merits of it, by citing Gutterman v. Hiatt, D.C.Pa. 1946, 65 F.Supp. 285 , and U. S. ex rel. Pruett v. Hiatt,…