Burgess v. Williams

SOBELOFF, Chief Judge.

Sixty-eight petitioners seek a writ of mandamus directing the vacation of an order of the late District Judge Ashton H. Williams of the Eastern District of South Carolina. By that order the court referred to a master for preliminary findings of fact a suit brought by a trustee in bankruptcy to set aside alleged preferences to these petitioners and to thirty-nine other persons. The petitioners claim that the reference to a master denies each of them his right to a trial by a jury. They also request severances so that there will be a separate trial as to each payment…