Vail v. Owen
New York Supreme Court
THIS was an action, brought in a justice’s court, against the defendants as assessors of the town of Boston, in the county of Erie, for assessing the plaintiff, who claimed to be a minister of the gospel, and that he had not, at the time of such assessment, property exceeding $1500 in value. On the trial, in the justice’s court, the plaintiff gave evidence tending to prove the above facts, and that he had paid the tax assessed upon him by the defendants.
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THIS was an action, brought in a justice’s court, against the defendants as assessors of the town of Boston, in the county of Erie, for assessing the plaintiff, who claimed to be a minister of the gospel, and that he had not, at the time of such assessment, property exceeding $1500 in value. On the trial, in the justice’s court, the plaintiff gave evidence tending to prove the above facts, and that he had paid the tax assessed upon him by the defendants. The plaintiff recovered a judgment in the justice’s court, for the amount of the tax, which judgment was affirmed by the county court on…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Greene, J.
The question in this case is, can the defendants be held liable,' in a civil action, for assessing a person who is not liable to assessment. And this question depends upon another, did the. defendants, in making this assessment, act judicially; or, in other words, had they a judgment to exercise in this case, upon the question, whether the plaintiff did or did not belong to that class of persons who, by the provisions of the statute, are exempt from taxation ?
The revised statutes (1 R. S. 391, § 8) direct the assessors “ to ascertain, by diligent inquiry, the names of…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Weaver v. DevendorfNew York Supreme Court · 1846
- Prosser v. SecorNew York Supreme Court · 1849
- Suydam v. KeysNew York Supreme Court · 1816
- Henderson v. BrownNew York Supreme Court · 1803
3Cited by27 opinions
- Wall v. TrumbullMichigan Supreme Court · 1867
- Barhyte v. . ShepherdNew York Court of Appeals · 1866
- Jackson v. State ex rel. DyarIndiana Supreme Court · 1885
- Baker v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1867
- Brown v. SmithNew York Supreme Court · 1857
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