Sevinskey v. Wagus

Alvey, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application to this Court for the exercise of •original jurisdiction in matter of habeas corpus. The petition is filed by a party, claiming to be the father, to get possession and control of two infant children, now in the custody and control of their grandparents. The application is made under the apparent authority conferred upon this Court by section 1 of Art. 42 of the Code, codified from the Act of 1880, ch. 6, which pro ³³⁶ vides that “The Court of Appeals, and the Chief Judge thereof, shall have the power to grant the writ of habeas corpus, and to exercise jurisdiction in all matters relating thereto throughout the whole State.” If this statutory provision he constitutional, this application can, of course, he entertained.

But the question is, can the Legislature invest this Court with any such original jurisdiction ? This Court is an appellate Court, and is so styled in the Constitution; and no provision is made in that instrument for instituting or conducting any original proceedings herein. The Constitution, Art. 4, sec. 14, in defining the jurisdiction of this Court, declares, that “The jurisdiction of said Court of Appeals shall be coextensive with the limits of the State, and such as now is or may hereafter be prescribed by law;” that is to say, such appellate jurisdiction as the Court then had or might thereafter have conferred upon it. The Court at the time of the adoption of the present Constitution had, under former Constitutions, appellate