United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Blackburn v. Alabama, 354 U.S. 393 (1957)

Blackburn v. Alabama

No. 426

Argued May 2, 1957

Decided June 17, 1957

354 U.S. 393

CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF ALABAMA

Syllabus

on the record in this case, it is uncertain whether petitioner's claim to protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was passed on by the State Court of Appeals, and the judgment of the Court is vacated and the cause remanded to that Court so that it may pass on that claim.

38 Ala.App. 143, 88 So.2d 199, judgment vacated and cause remanded.

PER CURIAM.

The record in this case leaves us uncertain whether petitioner's claim to the protection of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed upon by the Court of Appeals of Alabama. 38 Ala.App. 143, 88 So.2d 199. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the cause to that court in order that it may pass upon this claim. Minnesota v. National Tea Co., 309 U. S. 551.

MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN concur, dissenting.

Petitioner has made as strong a showing as possible that he signed the confession when he was insane. Throughout the whole proceeding, he has claimed that the confession was involuntary. The Judgment should therefore be reversed. See Chambers v. Florida, 309 U. S. 227; Leyra v. Denno, 347 U. S. 556.