Catlett v. Morton
| Decision Date | 13 October 1823 |
| Citation | 14 Ky. 122 |
| Parties | Catlett v. Morton. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
FROM THE FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT, THE HON. H. DAVIDGE SOLE JUDGE.
BRECKINRIDGE for Morton.
The plaintiff in error was a member of the legislature, and while attending its deliberations, a summons and petition for debt issued from the clerk's office of the Franklin circuit court, was served upon him, and he pleaded his privilege as a member in abatement of the writ. On demurrer the court below held the plea invalid, and he has prosecuted this writ of error.
A member of the legislature is not privileged against being served with any process in a civil suit not requiring bail either by the constitution or by the act of 1795.
Under the constitution of this state, it has not been, and can not be pretended, that the plaintiff is entitled to the privilege of being excused from the service of any process of this nature, which does not require bail. That instrument only provides that " the members of the general assembly shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, breach of surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same." By this provision, members are privileged from arrest only, and are subject to the execution of any other process, as other citizens are.
But on the 17th December, 1795, (see 2 Dig. L. K. 281), before the adoption of the present constitution, but under a constitution containing, in this respect, substantially the same provisions, an act was passed on this subject, which provides that " no person or persons shall, under an pretence, directly or indirectly, by any ways or means whatever, arrest, assault, menace, or otherwise disturb the person of a member, during his privilege, except on legal process for treason, felony or breach of the peace."
It is contended for the plaintiff in error, that this act embraces his case, and renders the service of the summons upon him illegal. On the other hand, it is insisted that the fair construction of this act, does not embrace the case, and if it does, that the provisions of the act, in this respect, are unconstitutional; that the constitution has measured out all the privileges which members can have; and that the foregoing clause of the constitution, operates not only as a grant of privilege, but as a...
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Christian v. Williams
... ... suitors and witnesses served while attending court in the ... state of their residence. Boulton v. Morton, Dall ... 296; Hayes v. Shields, 2 Yeates, 222; Parker v ... Hotchkiss, 2 Wall, 272; Gyer v. Irwin, 4 Dall ... 106; Lyell v. Goodwin, 4 ... Blight's Ex'r v. Fisher , 1 Pet. C.C. 41, 3 ... F. Cas. 704, and cases cited; Legrand v. Bedinger , 4 ... T. B. Mon. 539; Catlett v. Morton , 14 Ky. 122, 4 ... Litt. 122; Hunter v. Cleveland , 1 Brev. 168; ... Hopkins v. Coburn , 1 Wend. 292; Bours v ... Tuckerman , 7 ... ...
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Wilson v. Donaldson
...598), the question arose in a collateral action, and there the plaintiff sued to recover damages for an illegal arrest. Catlett v. Morton, 14 Ky. 122, 4 Litt. 122, simply decides that a member of the Legislature is not so privileged as to be exempt from answering a summons in an ordinary ci......
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Doyle-Kidd Dry Goods Company v. Munn
... ... of that court does not appeal to me ... The ... Court of Appeals of Kentucky, in the case of Catlett ... v. Morton, 14 Ky. 122, 4 Litt. 122, held that ... members of the Legislature were not exempt from civil process ... in the county where they ... ...
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Berlet v. Weary
...the legislature, like other citizens, is amenable to the service of a summons, finds ample support in the authorities. In Catlett v. Morton, 14 Ky. 122, 4 Litt. 122, the court held that despite the constitutional guaranty of privilege from arrest, members of the legislature "are subject to ......