Commonwealth v. Jellico Coal Co.
| Decision Date | 12 April 1895 |
| Parties | Commonwealth v. Jellico Coal Co. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
APPEAL FROM WHITLEY CIRCUIT COURT.
WM. J. HENDRICK, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, FOR APPELLANT.
S. V. D. STOUT FOR APPELLEE.
JUDGE EASTIN DELIVERED THE OPINION OF THE COURT.
This was an action brought by appellant on petition filed in the Whitley Circuit Court for the recovery from appellee of the sum of one thousand dollars as a fine or penalty.
The petition alleges, among other things, that appellee is a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Kentucky and in Whitley County, and that on April 25, 1894, without the consent of the adverse party, it removed to the United States Circuit Court sitting at Frankfort, Kentucky, a suit then pending against it in the Whitley Circuit Court, whereby under the laws of Kentucky, it forfeited its right to do business in Kentucky, and became liable to appellant for a fine of one thousand dollars for engaging in business thereafter, as it is alleged it has since continuously done, and whereby it became and is guilty of a misdemeanor. To this petition appellee filed a demurrer in two paragraphs, or upon two grounds, one of which was in terms a general demurrer, and the other based upon the alleged fact that the petition shows on its face that appellant seeks to impose upon it conditions which are repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and seeks to prohibit it from removing a cause from the State Court to the Federal Court and to recover from it a penalty for so doing.
This demurrer was sustained by the lower court, and appellant declining to plead further its petition was dismissed and it has appealed from that judgment.
The authority under which this proceeding was instituted is supposed to be section 572, Kentucky Statutes, and is in these words, to-wit: "If any foreign corporation shall, without the consent of the adverse party, remove to a Federal Court any action pending against it in any court of this State, or institute an action against a citizen of this State in a Federal Court of this State, such action on the part of the corporation shall forfeit its right to transact or carry on any business in this State; and such corporation, and any officer agent or employe thereof, who shall thereafter transact or engage in any business or employment for such corporation in this State shall be severally guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon indictment and conviction in the circuit court of any county...
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