M'Masters v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the common pleas of Jllleghany county. This was a scire facias brought in the name of the Commonwealth for the use of Nancy Knox and Samuel Davis against John M’Masters, owner of lot No. 393 in the city of Pittsburgh.
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ERROR to the common pleas of Jllleghany county. This was a scire facias brought in the name of the Commonwealth for the use of Nancy Knox and Samuel Davis against John M’Masters, owner of lot No. 393 in the city of Pittsburgh. It is enacted by the act of the 7th of April 1832, that the court of common pleas of Alleghany county, on petition, should appoint fifteen or more freeholders to decide whether an alley, which it was intended to open, or which had been opened, from the Diamond to Fifth street, in the city of Pittsburgh, was necessary for public use. If necessary, the act directs that…
1Opinion of the Court
The .opinion of the Court was delivered by
Rogers, J.
The only question about which there is any difficulty, is the constitutionality of the act of the 7th of April 1832. ' If the legislature had power to pass the first act, I can see no constitutional provision which forbids them giving effect to the- report of viewers, by making the assessment a lien on the premises benefited, and prescribing a remedy for the collection of the assessed damages. This is an ordinary exercise of legislative power, and lias been pursued in a great variety of instances, some of which have been reviewed in this…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Livingston v. MayorCourt for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors · 1831
- Vanhorne v. DorranceSupreme Court of the United States · 1795
- Underwood v. LillySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1823
- Satterlee v. MatthewsonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1827
- Tate v. StooltzfoosSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1827
3Cited by24 opinions
- Sharpless v. Mayor of PhiladelphiaSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1853
- Stewart v. Bd. of Super. of Polk CountySupreme Court of Iowa · 1870
- Hammett v. PhiladelphiaSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1869
- Warren v. HenlySupreme Court of Iowa · 1870
- Washington AvenueSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1871
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