the stoutest resistance. Just as our decision in Brown v. Mississippi was based upon the fact that the confessions were the result of compulsion, so in the present case, the admitted practices were such as to justify the statement that "The undisputed facts showed that compulsion was applied." 1

"13

For five days petitioners were subjected to interrogations culminating in Saturday's (May 20th) all night examination. Over a period of five days they steadily refused to confess and disclaimed any guilt. The very circumstances surrounding their confinement and their questioning without any formal charges having been brought, were such as to fill petitioners with terror and frightful misgivings. Some were practical strangers in

14

"See Ziang Sung Wan v. United States, 266 U. S. 1, 16. The dissenting Judge below noted, 136 Fla. 568, 576; 187 So. 156, 159, that, in a prior appeal of this same case, the Supreme Court of Florida had said: "Even if the jury totally disbelieved the testimony of the petitioners, the testimony of Sheriff Walter Clark, and one or two of the other witnesses introduced by the State, was sufficient to show that these confessions were only made after such constantly repeated and persistent questioning and cross-questioning on the part of the officers and one J. T. Williams, a convict guard, at frequent intervals while they were in jail, over a period of about a week, and culminating in an all-night questioning of the petitioners separately in succession, throughout practically all of Saturday night, until confessions had been obtained from all of them, when they were all brought into a room in the jailer's quarters at 6:30 on Sunday morning and made their confessions before the state attorney, the officers, said J. T. Williams, and several disinterested outsiders, the confessions, in the form of questions and answers, being taken. down by the court reporter, and then typewritten.

"Under the principles laid down in Nickels v. State, 90 Fla. 659, 106 So. 479; Davis v. State, 90 Fla. 317, 105 So. 843; Deiterle v. State, 98 Fla. 739, 124 So. 47; Mathieu v. State, 101 Fla. 94, 133 So. 550, these confessions were not legally obtained." 123 Fla. 734, 741; 167 So. 697, 700.

"Cf. the statement of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, Bell v. State, 180 Ark. 79, 89; 20 S. W. 2d 618, 622: "This negro boy was

the community; three were arrested in a one-room farm tenant house which was their home; the haunting fear of mob violence was around them in an atmosphere charged with excitement and public indignation. From virtually the moment of their arrest until their eventual confessions, they never knew just when any one would be called back to the fourth floor room, and there, surrounded by his accusers and others, interrogated by men. who held their very lives so far as these ignorant petitioners could know-in the balance. The rejection of petitioner Woodward's first "confession," given in the early hours of Sunday morning, because it was found wanting, demonstrates the relentless tenacity which "broke" petitioners' will and rendered them helpless to resist their accusers further. To permit human lives to be forfeited upon confessions thus obtained would make of the constitutional requirement of due process of law a meaningless symbol.

We are not impressed by the argument that law enforcement methods such as those under review are necessary to uphold our laws.15 The Constitution proscribes

taken, on the day after the discovery of the homicide while he was at his usual work, and placed in jail. He had heard them whipping Swain in the jail; he was taken from the jail to the penitentiary at Little Rock and turned over to the warden, Captain Todhunter, who was requested by the sheriff to question him. This Todhunter proceeded to do, day after day, an hour at a time. There Bell was, an ignorant country boy surrounded by all of those things that strike terror to the negro heart; . . ." See Münsterberg, On the Witness Stand, (1927) 137 et seq.

15 The police practices here examined are to some degree widespread throughout our country. See Report of Comm. on Lawless Enforcement of the Law (Amer. Bar Ass'n) 1 Amer. Journ. of Pol. Sci., 575; Note 43 H. L. R. 617; IV National Commission On Law Observance And Enforcement, supra, Ch. 2, § 4. Yet our national record for crime detection and criminal law enforcement compares poorly with that of Great Britain where secret interrogation of an

such lawless means irrespective of the end. And this argument flouts the basic principle that all people must stand on an equality before the bar of justice in every American court. Today, as in ages past, we are not without tragic proof that the exalted power of some governments to punish manufactured crime dictatorially is the handmaid of tyranny. Under our constitutional system, courts stand against any winds that blow as havens of refuge for those who might otherwise suffer because they are helpless, weak, outnumbered, or because they are non-conforming victims of prejudice and public excitement. Due process of law, preserved for all by our Constitution, commands that no such practice as that disclosed by this record shall send any accused to his death. No higher duty, no more solemn responsibility, rests upon this Court, than that of translating into living law and maintaining this constitutional shield deliberately planned and inscribed for the benefit of every human being subject to our Constitution-of whatever race, creed or persuasion.

accused or suspect is not tolerated. See, Report of Comm. on Lawless Enforcement of the Law, supra, 588; 43 H. L. R., supra, 618. It has even been suggested that the use of the "third degree" has lowered the esteem in which administration of justice is held by the public and has engendered an attitude of hostility to and unwillingness to cooperate with the police on the part of many people. See, IV National Commission, etc., supra, p. 190. And, after scholarly investigation, the conclusion has been reached "that such methods, aside from their brutality, tend in the long run to defeat their own purpose; they encourage inefficiency on the part of the police." Glueck, Crime and Justice, (1936) 76. See IV National Commission, etc., supra, 5; cf. 4 Wigmore, Evidence, (2d ed.) § 2251. The requirement that an accused be brought promptly before a magistrate has been sought by some as a solution to the problem of fostering law enforcement without sacrificing the liberties and procedural rights of the individual. 2 Wig., supra, § 851, IV National Commission, etc., supra, 5.

215234°-40-16

Statement of the Case.

309 U.S.

The Supreme Court of Florida was in error and its judgment is

Reversed.

MR. JUSTICE MURPHY took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION, REGION NO. 4, v. BURR, DOING BUSINESS AS SECRETARIAL SERVICE BUREAU.

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF MICHIGAN.

No. 354. Argued January 31, February 1, 1940-Decided
February 12, 1940.

1. Under the National Housing Act, as amended, which provides that the Administrator shall, in carrying out the provisions of certain of its titles, "be authorized, in his official capacity, to sue and be sued in any court of competent jurisdiction, State or Federal," the Federal Housing Administration is subject to be garnished, under state law, for moneys due to an employee; but only those funds which have been paid over to the Administration in accordance with § 1 of the Act and which are in its possession, severed from Treasury funds and Treasury control, are subject to execution. Pp. 249-250.

2. Waivers by Congress of governmental immunity from suit in the case of such federal instrumentalities should be construed liberally. P. 245.

3. The words "sue and be sued" in their normal connotation embrace all civil process incident to the commencement or continuance of legal proceedings. Garnishment and attachment commonly are part and parcel of the process, provided by statute, for the collection of debts. P. 245.

289 Mich. 91; 286 N. W. 169, affirmed.

CERTIORARI, 308 U. S. 541, to review the affirmance of a judgment against the Federal Housing Administration in a garnishment proceeding.

Mr. Sidney J. Kaplan, with whom Solicitor General Jackson, Assistant Attorney General Shea, and Messrs. Melvin H. Siegel, Paul A. Sweeney, Thomas Harris, and Abner H. Ferguson were on the brief, for petitioner.

Mr. Gus O. Nations for respondent.

MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented here is whether the Federal Housing Administration is subject to garnishment for moneys due to an employee. The Supreme Court of the State of Michigan held that it was. 289 Mich. 91; 286 N. W. 169. We granted certiorari in view of the importance of the problem and the confused state of the authorities on the right to garnishee recently created agencies or corporations of the federal government.1

In 1930 respondent obtained final judgment in Michigan against one Heffner and one Brooks. In 1938 petitioner was served with a writ of garnishment issued by the Michigan court.2 Petitioner appeared and filed an answer and disclosure stating that Brooks was no longer connected with it due to his death subsequent to service of the writ but admitting that it owed Brooks at the time

1

Garnishment of wages due an employee of the United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation was disallowed in McCarthy v. United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corp., 60 App. D. C. 311; 53 F. 2d 923. Contra: Haines v. Lone Star Shipbuilding Co., 268 Pa. 92; 110 A. 788. As to the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, a similar conflict of decisions has arisen. That it is not subject to garnishment see Home Owners' Loan Corp. v. Hardie & Caudle, 171 Tenn. 43; 100 S. W. 2d 238. And see Manufacturer's Trust Co. v. Ross, 252 App. Div. 292; 299 N. Y. S. 398. That it is subject to garnishment see Central Market, Inc. v. King, 132 Neb. 380; 272 N. W. 244; Gill v. Reese, 53 Oh. App. 134; 4 N. E. 2d 273; McAvoy v. Weber, 198 Wash. 370; 88 P. 2d 448.

Mich. Stat. Ann. (1938) § 27.1855 et seq.