Allen v. Black Bus Lines

• Decision Date: 19 May 1942
• Citation: 291 Ky. 278
• Parties: Allen et al. v. Black Bus Lines.
• Court: Supreme Court of Kentucky

Page 278

291 Ky. 278

Allen et al. v.Black Bus Lines.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

May 19, 1942.

1. Contempt. — An appeal lies in civil contempt proceeding, though amount in controversy is less than $200 (Ky. Stats., sec. 950-1).

2. Injunction. — A proceeding against taxicab operators for contempt in violating injunction by picking up and transporting passengers for hire along routes embraced in plaintiffs' passenger bus permits was civil, not criminal, proceeding, so as to give Court of Appeals jurisdiction of appeal from judgment finding defendants guilty of contempt, though each was fined less than $50 and amount in controversy was less than $200 (Ky. Stats., sec. 950-1; Civil Code of Practice, sec. 296; Criminal Code of Practice, sec. 347).

3. Injunction. — In proceeding for contempt in violating injunction against picking up taxicab passengers along routes covered by plaintiffs' passenger bus permits, evidence that defendants made trips with their taxicabs along such routes practically every day and frequently several trips a day, carried passengers in both directions on same trip, and picked them up along route, warranted chancellor's judgment finding defendants guilty of contempt (Civil Code of Practice, sec. 296).

Appeal from Clay Circuit Court.

Napier & Napier for appellants.

A.T.W. Manning for appellee.

Before Franklin P. Stivers, Judge.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUDGE REES.

Affirming.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Clay circuit court finding Lucian Allen and John E. Parker guilty of contempt and assessing a fine of $30 against each of them.

We are met at the outset by a motion to dismiss the appeal, which has been passed to the merits.The motion is based on the theory that this court is without jurisdiction, since Section 347 of the Criminal Code of Practice grants to a defendant in a criminal proceeding the right to have a judgment reviewed by the Court of Appeals only where the judgment is for a fine for as much as $50.It is argued also that if the fines assessed are for civil contempts, Section 950-1 of the Kentucky Statutes controls, and this court is without jurisdiction since the amount in controversy is less than $200.It seems to be well-settled that an appeal lies in a civil contempt proceeding notwithstanding the provisions of Section 950-1, Kentucky Statutes.Gibson v. Rogers, 270 Ky 159, 109 S.W. (2d) 402;Union Light, Heat and Power Company v. Mulligan, 177 Ky. 662, 197 S.W. 1081.It remains to be determined whether the present proceeding is civil or criminal in nature.It grows out of an action instituted by O.H. Black and W.D. Black, partners doing business under the firm name of Black Bus Lines, against appellants and twenty other defendants in which the plaintiffs sought an injunction against the defendants enjoining them from operating motor vehicles and carrying passengers for hire over and along the routes embraced in the franchises and permits of the plaintiffs in Clay, Jackson, Leslie, and Laurel counties.The plaintiffs were the owners of passenger bus permits issued to them by the Commonwealth of Kentucky authorizing them to operate passenger buses along certain routes designated in the permits.One of the permits authorized them to operate passenger buses between Richmond, in Madison county, and Manchester, in Clay county, and another between Manchester and Corbin, in Whitley county, by way of London, in Laurel county.The...