People ex rel. Feeney v. Dershem
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Hirschberg, J., dissented. Appeal by the defendant, William Dershem, from a judgment of the County Court of Richmond county in favor of the relator, bearing date the 24th day of March, 1902, and entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Richmond, affirming a judgment rendered in the City Magistrates’ Court of the city of New York adjudging the defendant to be a disorderly person, in that he had abandoned his wife and left her in danger of becoming a charge upon the…
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Hirschberg, J., dissented. Appeal by the defendant, William Dershem, from a judgment of the County Court of Richmond county in favor of the relator, bearing date the 24th day of March, 1902, and entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Richmond, affirming a judgment rendered in the City Magistrates’ Court of the city of New York adjudging the defendant to be a disorderly person, in that he had abandoned his wife and left her in danger of becoming a charge upon the public. The proceeding was instituted under section 685 of the Greater New York charter.
1Opinion of the Court
Jenks, J.:
The offense is of a criminal character, and the statute being penal must be strictly construed. (People ex rel. Comrs. of Charities v. Cullen, 153 N. Y. 629.) As the statute and its kind do not afford *627a civil remedy for the support of the wife, but are designed to prevent her from becoming a charge upon the public purse (Bayne v. People, 14 Hun, 181; People ex rel. Douglass v. Naehr, 30 id. 461), an essential fact to be established was the danger of such charge. (Greater N. Y. Charter [Laws of 1897, chap. 378], § 685.) We are not satisfied that the People clearly proved their case.…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- People Ex Rel. Commissioners of Public Charities & Correction v. CullenNew York Court of Appeals · 1897
3Cited by15 opinions
- Stedman v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1920
- People ex rel. Demos v. DemosAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1906
- People v. De WolfAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1909
- People v. SmithAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1910
- Bellanca v. BellancaNew York Family Court · 1950
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