Philippi v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Somerset eounty. This was an action of debt in the name of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the use of Rhees and wife, v. Jacob Philippi, sheriff of Somerset county, on his official bond, for permitting the escape of John Copperstone.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Somerset eounty. This was an action of debt in the name of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the use of Rhees and wife, v. Jacob Philippi, sheriff of Somerset county, on his official bond, for permitting the escape of John Copperstone. Copperstone was convicted of fornication and bastardy in the Court of Quarter Sessions of Somerset county, and on the 29th of April, 1844, was sentenced by that Court to pay a fine of $1 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to pay to the prosecutrix $12 for her lying-in expenses, $50.62-|- for maintaining the child up to that…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered, by
Gibson, C. J.
To enforce a criminal sentence by a civil action, though in the name of a party collaterally interested, would, to say the least, be anomalous. In Eby v. Burkholder, l7 Ser. & R. 9, where the subject was fully considered, it was ruled that the mother of a bastard could not maintain an action on a sentence of maintenance, because it vests no right in her from which the law implies a contract to pay. She is not a party to it, but the collateral recipient of a benefit haply cast upon her. But in requiring the putative father to maintain the…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Farmers & Merchants Trust Co. v. MadeiraCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1968
- Commonwealth v. HawkinsSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1923
- Beck v. FinnefrockSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1919
- Commonwealth v. AllenSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1896
- Commonwealth v. Showalter, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County1938
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