Ex parte Ahern

This is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in which the petitioner, Michael Ahern, alleges that he is imprisoned by W. E. Hale in the state prison at San Quentin, “ in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States and of this state, in this, that the paper of commitment on which he is held is not due process of law, because it does not run in the name of the people.”

It does not appear from the allegations of the petition whether W. E. Hale is or is not warden of the state prison; whether the petitioner has or has not been convicted of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or whether or not Mr. Hale has a duly certified copy of a judgment showing such conviction. But putting the best construction we can on a petition, which for looseness and vagueness is rather worse than usual in the productions of its class, we assume that the petitioner is in the custody of the warden of the state prison, who detains him under the authority of a duly certified copy of a judgment convicting him of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, and that the supposed illegality of his imprisonment arises out of the fact that the warden has no…