| United States v. Moreland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 9, 1922 Decided April 17, 1922 | |
| Full case name | United States v. Moreland |
| Citations | 258 U.S. 433 (more) 42 S. Ct. 368; 66 L. Ed. 700; 1922 U.S. LEXIS 2292 |
| Holding | |
| A sentence of hard labor is considered infamous punishment, requiring a grand-jury indictment under the Fifth Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | McKenna, joined by Day, Van Devanter, Pitney, McReynolds |
| Dissent | Brandeis, joined by Taft, Holmes |
| Clarke took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
United States v. Moreland, 258 U.S. 433 (1922), was a case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 9 and 10, 1922, and decided a month later on April 17. The case involved a Fifth Amendment rights issue centering on whether or not hard labor was an infamous punishment (thus triggering the necessity of a grand jury indictment) or whether imprisonment in a penitentiary was a necessity for punishment to be considered infamous.
The majority opinion also included the court's contention for continued support of the findings of a previously held case, Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U.S. 228 (1896). Lawyers for the United States argued that Wong Wing was improperly applied in the Moreland case, and had been modified or overruled by subsequent cases. The court strongly rejected the government's contentions regarding Wong Wing in its opinion, and ruled in favor of Moreland.