Duell v. Duell

I

I agree that the default judgment entered against the appellant Duell should be set aside, but I reach this conclusion for reasons different from those stated' in the majority opinion. The majority view is that Duell’s answer was stricken and the default judgment entered against him as a penalty for contempt, and in this view Hovey v. Elliott, 1897, 167 U.S. 409, 17 S.Ct. 841, 42 L.Ed. 215, is said to apply. That case held void a decree pro confesso entered against a defendant in another proceeding where the defendant’s answer had been stricken and the decree entered as a penalty for his…