Payne v. United States ex rel. National Railway Publishing Co.
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Hearing or an appeal by tbe respondent, tbe Postmaster-General of tbe United States, from an order of tbe Supreme Court of tbe District of Columbia directing a peremptory writ of mandamus to issue to compel bim to receive and transmit in tbe mails a certain publication as second-class mail matter.
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Hearing or an appeal by tbe respondent, tbe Postmaster-General of tbe United States, from an order of tbe Supreme Court of tbe District of Columbia directing a peremptory writ of mandamus to issue to compel bim to receive and transmit in tbe mails a certain publication as second-class mail matter. Tbe Court in tbe opinion stated tbe case as follows: This is a suit instituted in tbe Supreme Court of tbe District for tbe issue of tbe writ of mandamus to require tbe Postmaster-General of tbe United States to admit into tbe mails, for transmission as second-class mail matter, a certain periodical…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Morris
The principal question here, as in all eases of this character, is whether the act sought to be performed is of a ministerial or *597of a judicial character, as those terms have been defined and limited by the courts. For, as pointed out in the case of United States ex rel. West v. Hitchcock, 19 App. D. C. 333, there is no ministerial act to which the writ of mandamus would be applicable that does not in some measure and to some extent involve the exercise of judgment and discretion, and there are acts apparently judicial which are not so in contemplation of law. An act may be ministerial in this…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- United States v. SchurzSupreme Court of the United States · 1880
- Morrill v. JonesSupreme Court of the United States · 1883
- Butterworth v. United States Ex Rel. HoeSupreme Court of the United States · 1884
- Roberts v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1900
- Dunlap v. BlackSupreme Court of the United States · 1888
3Cited by12 opinions
- Institute for Scientific Information, Inc. v. United States Postal ServiceCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 1977
- Shop & Swap Advertiser, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax CommissionSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1989
- Standard Rate and Data Service, Inc. v. United States Postal ServiceCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1978
- United States Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Weekly Publications, Inc.District Court, S.D. New York · 1946
- H. W. Wilson Co. v. United States Postal ServiceDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 1977
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