In re Sorini

These three cases present the same general question and were submitted together. In all three cases timely applications for the allowance of writs of error from this court to review *803 judgments of conviction in criminal eases, not capital, in the District Court, were presented to the court below and disallowed. In case No. 4462 the relief sought is an alternative writ of mandamus; in case No. 4487 the relief sought is an alternative writ of mandamus, or the allowance of a writ of error by this court; and in ease No. 4520 an attempt is made to review the order disallowing the writ of error by certiorari, but the petition is accompanied by a prayer for such other relief as the petitioner is entitled to in the premises.

The question presented in each ease is this: Is the allowance of a writ of error, from this court to a District Court in a criminal ease, not capital, a matter of right, or a matter of discretion only? Section 6 of the Act of March 3, 1891 ( 26 Stat. 828 ; Comp. St. § 1120), creating the Circuit Court of Appeals, provides:

Section 6 of the Act of 1891 has been brought forward, in substance, as section 128 of the Judicial Code. In re Claasen, 140 U. S. 200, 205 ,…