Townsend v. Hazard and Others
Supreme Court of Rhode Island
Action of partition, brought in the Court of Common Pleas, at its November term,, 1867. Judgment was rendered for partition in the court below, and David Buffum, Alfred Smith and Samuel Brown were appointed to.make partition of the premises by metes and bounds. David Buffum declined to serve.
Read the full summary
Action of partition, brought in the Court of Common Pleas, at its November term,, 1867. Judgment was rendered for partition in the court below, and David Buffum, Alfred Smith and Samuel Brown were appointed to.make partition of the premises by metes and bounds. David Buffum declined to serve. The parties, by their respective attorneys, by an agreement in writing, substituted Henry Bull in the place of Buffum, and the clerk, by request of said attorneys, issued a commission to make partition to Bull, Smith and Brown. The commissioners pro • ceeded to examine the parties, and their witnesses,…
1Opinion of the CourtDurfee, J.
We do not think the report of the commissioners was invalid merely because it was not unanimous. We think the true rule is, that where three or more persons are charged with a judicial or quasi judicial function under an authority derived, not from the parties in interest merely, but from a law or statute of the state, though all must hear and deliberate together, a majority may decide, unless it is otherwise provided. The counsel for the défendants admit that this is a rule when the power to be exercised is of a public nature, but contend that in mere private causes the decision must be…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Crocker v. CraneNew York Supreme Court · 1839
- Short v. PrattMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1810
- Case of a Turnpike Road ex rel. Chad's Ford to the State LineSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1813
- Patterson v. LeavittSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1821
- Woolsey v. TompkinsNew York Supreme Court · 1840
2 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by1 opinion
- Roberts v. RobertsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1955