People ex rel. Backus v. Spalding
New York Court of Chancery
This was an appeal by the defendant, from an order of the vice chancellor of the eighth circuit, to recommit the defendant upon a conviction for a contempt. The defendant had been convicted for the wilful breach of an injunction, and had been fined for such misconduct, as directed by the statute. After his commitment he was discharged from his debts under the bankrupt act.
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This was an appeal by the defendant, from an order of the vice chancellor of the eighth circuit, to recommit the defendant upon a conviction for a contempt. The defendant had been convicted for the wilful breach of an injunction, and had been fined for such misconduct, as directed by the statute. After his commitment he was discharged from his debts under the bankrupt act. A supreme, court commissioner, supposing that a fine imposed upon a party for such misconduct was an ordinary debt, from which the defendant could be discharged under the late bankrupt act, assumed the authority to…
1Opinion of the Court
The Chancellor.
It is perfectly clear that the commissioner in this case had no jurisdiction or authority to discharge the defendant. The statute declares that where, upon the return to a writ of habeas corpus, it appears that the party is detained in custody for a contempt, plainly and specially charged in the commitment, by a court having authority to commit for such contempt, and that the time during which such party may be legally detained has not expired, it shall be the duty of the officer before whom the *287habeas corpus is returnable, forthwith to remand such party. (2 R. S. 567, § 40.)
It…
2Cited by15 opinions
- Cartwright's CaseMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Matter of Watson v. . NelsonNew York Court of Appeals · 1877
- Ex Parte CrenshawSupreme Court of Missouri · 1883
- Lyman A. Spalding, in Error v. The People of the State of New York, Ex Rel. Frederic F. BackusSupreme Court of the United States · 1845
- People v. ComptonThe Superior Court of New York City · 1853
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