Cranson v. Goss
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract on a promissory note signed by the defendant under date of December 15,1869, payable in one year to the order of John Wells and by him indorsed to the plaintiff.
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Contract on a promissory note signed by the defendant under date of December 15,1869, payable in one year to the order of John Wells and by him indorsed to the plaintiff. Writ dated December 28, 1870. The case was submitted to the judgment of the court on the following statement of facts: “It is agreed that the plaintiff is a bond fide holder of the note in suit, for a valuable consideration; and that he obtained it before it was due, without notice of any defect, illegality or other infirmity in it. It is also agreed that the contract, upon which the note itself was based, was made upon…
1Opinion of the CourtGbAY, J.
The ground upon which courts have refused to maintain actions on contracts made in contravention of statutes for the observance of the Lord’s day, is the elementary principle that one who has himself participated in a violation of law conn< t be permitted to assert in a court of justice any right founded upon or growing out of the illegal transaction.
The general principle was long ago stated by Lord Mansfield, with his usual completeness and felicity of expression : “ The objection that a contract is immoral or illegal, as between plaintiff and defendant, sounds at all times very ill in the…
2Cases cited9 opinions
- Myers v. MeinrathMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Vinton v. PeckMichigan Supreme Court · 1866
- Finn v. DonahueSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1868
- Jourdain v. ShermanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1850
- Bradley v. ReaMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
4 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by41 opinions
- Robbins v. Pacific Eastern Corp.California Supreme Court · 1937
- O'Brien v. SheaMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1911
- Gibbs & Sterrett Manufacturing Co. v. BruckerSupreme Court of the United States · 1884
- Swann v. SwannUnited States Circuit Court · 1884
- McGrath v. MerwinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
36 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.