Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Polt
Supreme Court of the United States
ERROR TO THE . SUPREME COURT OP THE STATE OP SOUTH DAKOTA. The facts, which involve the validity under the due process provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment of a judgment for' double damages entered under a railroad claim statute of South Dakota, are stated in the opinion.
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ERROR TO THE . SUPREME COURT OP THE STATE OP SOUTH DAKOTA. The facts, which involve the validity under the due process provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment of a judgment for' double damages entered under a railroad claim statute of South Dakota, are stated in the opinion. Chapter 215, Session Laws of South Dakota for 1907, is unconstitutional in that it imposes a penalty for delinquency in payment of a debt. ' The act discriminates against one class of litigants in favor of another, denying to plaintiff in error equal protection of the laws. The law in its operation is pernicious and works…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Holmes
This was a suit against the plaintiff in error for loss of property destroyed by fire communicated from its locomotive engine. A statute of South Dakota, after making -the Railroad Company absolutely responsible in such cases, goes on to make it liable for double the amount of damage actually sustained unless it pays the full amount .within sixty days from notice. If, within sixty days, it shall “offer in writing to pay a fixed sum, being the full amount of the damages sustained and the owner shall refuse to accept the same, then in any action thereafter brought for such damages when such…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. Jackson Vinegar Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1912
- St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. WynneSupreme Court of the United States · 1912
3Cited by63 opinions
- West Ohio Gas Co. v. Public Util. Comm'n of OhioSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
- Opinion of the Justices to the Senate & the House of RepresentativesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1925
- West Ohio Gas Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of OhioSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
- Life & Casualty Ins. Co. of Tenn. v. McCraySupreme Court of the United States · 1934
- Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. v. NYE Schneider Fowler Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1922
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