United States v. Kelly
Supreme Court of the United States
This was an appeal by the United States from a judgment of the Court of Claims, in favor of one Kelly, lately a soldier in the army of the United States, for an uupaid balance of bounty money. The claim was denied by the pay department, on the ground that the bounty had been forfeited by desertion.
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This was an appeal by the United States from a judgment of the Court of Claims, in favor of one Kelly, lately a soldier in the army of the United States, for an uupaid balance of bounty money. The claim was denied by the pay department, on the ground that the bounty had been forfeited by desertion. The case as found by the court was, that the petitioner had deserted, but was restored to duty by order of his department commander, without trial, on condition that he make good the time lost, about two months; that he complied with the condition, and was honorably discharged at the expiration of…
1Opinion of the Court
The CHIEF JUSTICE
delivered the opinion of the court.
"We do not think that, under the circumstances of the present case, the bounty was forfeited. The able lawyer who fills at present the post of Judge Advocate General, in a case similar to the present, held that “the honorable discharge of the deserter wras a formal final judgment passed by the government upon the entire military record of the soldier, and an authoritative declaration by it that he had left the service in a status of honor; that as such, it dispensed altogether with the supposed necessity that the soldier must obtain bountj-…
2Cited by21 opinions
- United States Ex Rel. Hirshberg v. CookeSupreme Court of the United States · 1949
- Marshall v. WymanDistrict Court, N.D. California · 1955
- Hironimus v. DurantCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1948
- United States v. LandersSupreme Court of the United States · 1876
- Bernstein v. HerrenDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 1956
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