Lewis v. Foster
Superior Court of New Hampshire
This was an action of debt, for a penalty, founded on § 8 of the statute of Dec. 16, 1796, entitled “An Act regulating Fees,” which provides that any one taking more than the legal fee “ shall forfeit and pay, to the person or persons suing for the same, the sum of $80 for every such offence; to be recovered by action of debt, in the Court of Common Pleas; besides being liable to an action for damages, by and for the party injured, to recover back the sum or sums so…
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This was an action of debt, for a penalty, founded on § 8 of the statute of Dec. 16, 1796, entitled “An Act regulating Fees,” which provides that any one taking more than the legal fee “ shall forfeit and pay, to the person or persons suing for the same, the sum of $80 for every such offence; to be recovered by action of debt, in the Court of Common Pleas; besides being liable to an action for damages, by and for the party injured, to recover back the sum or sums so unlawfully taken.” The suit was commenced on March 30, 1812, and (at May Term, 1813) previous to June 10, 1813, had been tried…
1Opinion of the Court
Smith, C. J.,
committed some views to writing, from which the following is an extract: —
The second section of the act regulating fees subjects the *421party (say, deputy sheriff) taking more than lawful fees (the fees prescribed by statute) to the penalty or forfeiture of $30 for every such offence, to be recovered by any person who will sue for the same by action of debt in the Court of Common Pleas.
This clearly amounts to a prohibition from taking beyond the legal fees. It makes such taking unlawful.
But it is equally clear that the repeal of the section in question, though it did not make the…
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- Yeaton and Others, of the Schooner General Pinkney and Cargo v. The United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1809
- Commonwealth v. DuaneSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1809
- The United States v. Thomas PassmoreSupreme Court of the United States · 1804
- United States v. MannU.S. Circuit Court for the District of New Hampshire · 1812
3Cited by1 opinion
- Ripley v. ChandlerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813