People Ex Rel. Cunningham v. Roper
New York Court of Appeals
Mandamus to compel the defendants, as assessors of the city of Utica, to deduct $500 from the assessed value of the property of each of the relators on the assessment rolls of cthat city.
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Mandamus to compel the defendants, as assessors of the city of Utica, to deduct $500 from the assessed value of the property of each of the relators on the assessment rolls of cthat city. This reduction was claimed on the ground that the relators had respectively served seven years in the militia; that they had been honorably discharged; and that they were, accordingly, entitled to perpetual immunity from taxation, to the extent of $500 each, under a former provision of the general militia law. (Laws of 1854, p. 1044, § 15.) It was resisted, on the ground that, under existing laws, the…
1Opinion of the CourtPorter, J.
The decision of this case must be controlled by the application of familiar principles of statutory construction and constitutional law. If specific contracts had been entered into with each of the relators, with the concurrence of all the State authorities for the time being, agreeing severally with each that, if he would volunteer to equip himself and perform militia duty at stated periods during the next seven years, he should thenceforth be released from all future obligations due from him as a citizen to the government, it would be material to consider the question whether the people had…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- M'culloch v. State of MarylandSupreme Court of the United States · 1819
- Providence Bank v. BillingsSupreme Court of the United States · 1830
- Metropolitan Board of Excise v. . BarrieNew York Court of Appeals · 1866
- Hartung v. . the PeopleNew York Court of Appeals · 1860
- Ex parte BurrU.S. Circuit Court for the District of District of Columbia · 1823
1 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by42 opinions
- Langdon v. . Mayor, Etc., of City of N.Y.New York Court of Appeals · 1883
- West Wisconsin R. Co. v. Board of Supervisors of Trempealeau Cty.Supreme Court of the United States · 1876
- Bailey v. FoxCalifornia Supreme Court · 1889
- In re Appraisal of the Estate of VanderbiltAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1900
- Grand Lodge F. and A. Masons of La. v. New OrleansSupreme Court of the United States · 1897
37 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.