In Re Henley

Petitioner, held on a warrant of arrest by the sheriff of Sacramento county, claims that said warrant was issued without authority of law, and is therefore void. The proceeding against petitioner was instituted under the statute passed by the legislature of 1911 providing for the “arrest, hearing and commitment of inebriates and drug habitues.” (Stats. 1911, p. 396.) The affidavit upon which the warrant herein was predicated set forth: “That there is now in the said county in the city or town of Sacramento a person named William Henley who is so far addicted to the intemperate use of stimulants as to have lost the power of self-control. That by reason thereof said person is a fit subject for commitment to a state hospital for the- care and treatment of the insane and ought to be confined therein as an inebriate under the provisions of section 2185c of the Political Code of the state of California.” Said section, as far as necessary to quote, provides that “Whenever it appears by affidavit to the satisfaction of a magistrate of a county, or city and county, that a person is so far addicted to the intemperate use of narcotics or stimulants as to have lost the power of self-control…