Ex Parte Brown

Petitioner seeks his release under habeas corpus from a commitment for contempt in which he was charged with violating an injunction of the superior court restraining him from using and occupying certain premises in the county of Alameda which had been ordered vacated as a nuisance under the terms of the statutes prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors. Three points of attack are made upon the commitment and we will consider them in the order of their presentation.

(1) It is argued that the writ of injunction which the petitioner was charged with violating is ineffective because signed by the clerk of the court and not by the trial judge. The original action was instituted by the district attorney for the purpose of having the premises owned and occupied by the petitioner herein declared to be a public nuisance because said premises were being used by the petitioner for the purpose of selling intoxicating liquors in violation of the prohibition statutes. After trial a judgment was rendered signed by the trial judge and duly entered. Thereafter what is termed a permanent writ of injunction was issued by the clerk of the court. In this the people followed the old practice,…