Ex parte Bridgforth
Mississippi Supreme Court
Erom tbe judgment of Hox. Z. M. Stei->heNS, circuit judge, third district, denying appellant’s application for release from custody on habeas corpus. Bridgforth, the appellant, was the defendant in a bastardy proceeding, and upon an issue made up in the circuit court of DeSoto county he was adjudged to be the real father of the bastard and damages in the sum of $24 per year for ten years, to be paid annually, were assessed against him accordingly.
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Erom tbe judgment of Hox. Z. M. Stei->heNS, circuit judge, third district, denying appellant’s application for release from custody on habeas corpus. Bridgforth, the appellant, was the defendant in a bastardy proceeding, and upon an issue made up in the circuit court of DeSoto county he was adjudged to be the real father of the bastard and damages in the sum of $24 per year for ten years, to be paid annually, were assessed against him accordingly. The judgment provided, under code 1892, § 261, that the defendant, now appellant, should give bond for the payment of the installments of the…
1Opinion of the Court
"Woods, O. J.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
The sum adjudged by the court below against the appellant was not a recovery for debt arising out of any contract, express or implied. The appellant owed no debt" to the mother of the child. The proceeding under our bastardy statutes is merely a police regulation by which the father of the illegitimate *420child may be required to maintain and support his own child, and protect the public against its becoming a charge upon the county. It is in the nature of a penalty, by which the father is compelled to assist, at. least, in making provision for…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Lower v. WallickIndiana Supreme Court · 1865
- In re WheelerSupreme Court of Kansas · 1885
- Ex parte CottrellNebraska Supreme Court · 1882
3Cited by6 opinions
- State v. LathamTennessee Supreme Court · 1916
- Welford v. HavardMississippi Supreme Court · 1921
- State v. WiebkeSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1922
- Ex parte DigMississippi Supreme Court · 1905
- State v. HollingerNorth Dakota Supreme Court · 1939
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