Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/816

 80 e FEDERAL REPORTER. �forms and modes of proceeding used by them as examining and com- mitting magistrates. �Siuce the adoption of the present state constitution varions stat- utes have been enacted whioh have enumerated with great particu- larity and precision the powers and duties of justices of the peace both in civil and criminal cases. The old System has been revised, amended, and greatly improved both by the legislature and the de- cisions of the supreme court, so that now there is scarcely ever any occasion to refer to the old English statutes and decided cases for information and guidance upon the subject. But as courts of jus- tices of the peace had their origin in the common law, questions of "new impression" may still arise, in the determination of which we may have to refer to that bountiful source of legal knowledge and wisdom. �The laws of this state impose upon justices of the peace many important duties, and confer upon them extensive powers for the purpose of preserving the good order of society, by suppressing dis- turbances, and bringing violators of the criminal law to speedy jus- tice. They are conservators of the peace, and when a felony orbreach of the peace is committed in their presence they may issue a warrant of arrest without any previens afBdavit, or they may verbally order the offender to be taken into custody. If a crime has been committed ont of their presence they must issue a warrant, founded upon an affidavit of some credible person, showing probable cause for believ- ing that the crime alleged has been committed by the person charged. When an alleged offender is brought before a justice of the peace for examination, he is entitled to have a fair and full investigation of the matters charged in the warrant, and the justice must advise him of his legal rights on examination, and allow him a reasonable time to summon witnesses, and consult with and employ counsel to aid him in his defence. Bat. Eev. Ch. 33. �These imperative duties necessarily confer upon the magistrate the power of continuance to a future day. The rights and privileges expressly conferred by law upon a defendant would be of little bene- fit if he cannot give bail durmg the continuance of his case, for if he is committed to prison he will not have convenient opportunity of preparing his defence. I believe that the right of thus being relieved from imprisonment when arrested, in a bailable case, is a right which cannot lawfully be denied when an examination is properly eontinued to a future day. ��� �