Rideout v. Knox
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort against David Knox and Elizabeth E. Knox, his wife. The declaration was as follows: “And the plaintiff says that he is the owner and occupant of a lot of land situate on Johnson Street, in the city of Lynn, in said county, upon which stands his residence, numbered eight in the numbering of the buildings on said Johnson Street, and bounded southeasterly by a lot of land on said Johnson Street owned by the defendants, upon which the house occupied by the defendants as a…
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Tort against David Knox and Elizabeth E. Knox, his wife. The declaration was as follows: “And the plaintiff says that he is the owner and occupant of a lot of land situate on Johnson Street, in the city of Lynn, in said county, upon which stands his residence, numbered eight in the numbering of the buildings on said Johnson Street, and bounded southeasterly by a lot of land on said Johnson Street owned by the defendants, upon which the house occupied by the defendants as a dwelling now stands. And the plaintiff says that the defendants have maliciously erected and maliciously maintain on…
1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, J.
This is an action of tort, under the St. of 1887, c. 348. The plaintiff has had a verdict for nominal damages, and the first question raised by the bill of exceptions is the constitutionality of the statute. Another question more or less connected with the former is whether the structure, in order to bring it within the act, must be erected or maintained for the purpose of annoyance as the dominant motive, or whether it is *372enough if that purpose existed, although subordinate to a bona fide use for legitimate purposes.
At common law, a man has a right to build a fence on his own land as high as…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- Mugler v. KansasSupreme Court of the United States · 1887
- Kidd v. PearsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1888
- Walker v. CroninMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
- Sawyer v. DavisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1884
- Chatfield v. WilsonSupreme Court of Vermont · 1855
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3Cited by99 opinions
- Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. MahonSupreme Court of the United States · 1922
- Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictisSupreme Court of the United States · 1987
- Camfield v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1897
- Lowell Bar Ass'n v. LoebMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1943
- The Original Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Company, Incorporated v. River Valley Cookies, Limited, Robert M. Sigel, Paula SigelCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 1992
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