The necessary conclusion is that it is the right of every private citizen of the United States to inform a marshal of the United States or his deputy of a violation
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United States Supreme Court
IN RE QUARLES, (1895)No. 14Argued: Decided: May 20, 1895
....that this right is secured to the citizen by the constitution of the United States; and [158 U.S. 532, 538] that a conspiracy to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate him in the free exercise or enjoyment of this right, or because of his having exercised it, is punishable under section 5508 of the Revised Statutes.
It is the duty and the right, not only of every peace officer of the United States, but of every citizen. to assist in prosecuting, and in securing the punishment of, any breach of the peace of the United States. It is the right, as well as the duty, of every citizen, when called upon by the proper officer, to act as part of the posse comitatus in upholding the laws of his country. It is likewise his right and his duty to communicate to the executive officers any information which he has of the commission of an offense against those laws; and such information, given by a private citizen, is a privileged and con- [158 U.S. 532, 536] fidential communication, for which no action of libel or slander will lie, and the disclosure of which cannot be compelled without the assent of the government. Vogel v. Gruaz, 110 U.S. 311 , 4 Sup. Ct. 12; U. S. v. Moses, 4 Wash. C. C. 726, Fed. Cas. No. 15,825; Worthington v. Scribner, 109 Mass. 487.
The right of a citizen informing of a violation of law, like the right of a prisoner in custody upon a charge of such violation, to be protected against lawless violence, does not depend upon any of the amendments to the constitution, but arises out of the creation and establishment by the constitution itself of a national government, paramount and supreme within its sphere of action. U. S. v. Logan, 144 U.S. 294 , 12 Sup. Ct. 617. Both are, within the concise definition of the chief justice in an earlier case, 'privileges and immunities arising out of the nature and essential character of the national government, and granted or secured by the constitution of the United States.' In re Kemmler, 136 U.S. 436, 448 , 10 S. Sup. Ct. 930.
The right of the private citizen who assists in putting in motion the course of justice, and the right of the officers concerned in the administration of justice, stand upon the same ground, just as do the rights of citizens voting and of officers elected, of which Mr. Justice Miller, speaking for this court, in Ex parte Yarbrough, above cited, said: 'The power in either case arises out of the circumstance that the function in which the party is engaged, or the right which he is about to exercise, is dependent on the laws of the United States. In both cases it is the duty of that government to see that he may exercise this right freely, and to protect him from violence while so doing, or on account of so doing. This duty does not r ise solely from the interest of the party concerned, but from the necessity of the government itself, that its service shall be free from the adverse influence of force and fraud practiced on its agents, and that the votes by which its members of congress and its president are elected shall be the free votes of the electors, and the officers thus chosen the free and uncorrupted choice of those who have the right to take part in that choice.' 110 U.S. 662 , 4 Sup. Ct. 152.
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The right of a citizen informing of a violation of law... does not depend upon any of the amendments to the constitution, but arises out of the creation and establishment by the constitution itself of a national government, paramount and supreme within its sphere of action.
- in Johnson v. Hurtt, 2012 and 42 similar citations
To
rule otherwise would impair the right and duty of every citizen of the
United States to inform the proper authorities of violations of the law.
- in United States v. Tucker, 1970 and 25 similar citations
It
is the duty and the right, not only of every peace officer of the
United States, but of every citizen to assist in prosecuting and in
securing the punishment of, any breach of the peace of the United
States.
- in Johnson v. Hurtt, 2012 and 34 similar citations
What
is usually referred to as the informer's privilege is in reality the
Government's privilege to withhold from disclosure the identity of
persons who furnish information of violations of law to officers charged
with enforcement of that law.
- in Roviaro v. United States, 1957 and 29 similar citations
The
conviction that private citizens have a duty to provide assistance to
law enforcement officials when it is required is by no means foreign to
our traditions, as the Company apparently believes.
- in United States v. New York Telephone Co., 1977 and 21 similar citations
—the
Court, in holding that a citizen's right to inform federal authorities
concerning violations of the internal revenue laws is secured by the
Constitution even though it is not specifically mentioned in "any of the
Amendments," stated that "[t] o leave to the several states the
prosecution and punishment of conspiracies to oppress citizens of the
United States, in performing the …
- in United States v. Pacelli, 1974 and 16 similar citations
—every
citizen, to assist in prosecuting, and in securing the punishment of,
any breach of the peace of the United States.*** It is likewise his
right and his duty to communicate to the executive officers any
information which he has of the commission of an offence against those
laws; and such information, given by a private citizen, is a privileged
and confidential …
- in United States v. Schneiderman, 1952 and 19 similar citations
It may accomplish
this by having persons arrested and tried before a jnry, or by using
the forces of the army and navy, or by invoking the power of the court
to enjoin persons from such unlawful interference.
- in The general principles of constitutional law in the United States of America and 19 similar citations
If voluntary proceedings may be permitted, so may involuntary ones, subject, of course, to any inhibition of the Eleventh Amendment.
- in Ashton v. Cameron County Water Improvement Dist. No. One, 1936 and 16 similar citations
In
unambiguous language it protects' any right or privilege secured*** by
the Constitution', a phrase which as we have seen extends to the right
of the voter to have his vote counted in both the general election and
in the primary election, where the latter is a part of the election
machinery, as well as to numerous other constitutional rights which are
wholly unrelated to the …
- in United States v. Classic, 1941 and 19 similar citations
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