Company v. State of Minnesota, SHEVLIN-CARPENTER
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | McKenna |
| Citation | 30 S.Ct. 663,54 L.Ed. 930,218 U.S. 57 |
| Parties | COMPANY and John F. Irwin, Plffs. in Err., v. STATE OF MINNESOTA |
| Docket Number | No. 139,SHEVLIN-CARPENTER |
| Decision Date | 31 May 1910 |
v.
STATE OF MINNESOTA.
Page 58
Messrs. Frank B. Kellogg, N. H. Clapp, R. J. Powell, and George W. Morgan for plaintiffs in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 58-61 intentionally omitted]
Page 61
Messrs. George T. Simpson, Charles S. Jelley, and Lyndon A. Smith for defendant in error.
Page 62
Mr. Justice McKenna delivered the opinion of the court:
This case involves the consideration of the validity under the Constitution of the United States of the imposition of double damages under an act of the state of Minnesota for a 'casual and involuntary trespass,' made by cutting or assisting to cut timber upon the lands of the state. The act is set out in the margin.
The action was brought to recover the sum of $51,324.42 for timber cut by plaintiffs in error from certain lands of
Sec. 7. If any person, firm, or corporation, without a valid and existing permit therefor, cuts, or employs or induces any other person, firm, or corporation to cut or assist in cutting, any timber of whatsoever description, on state lands, or removes or carries away, or employs, or induces, or assists any other person, firm, or corporation to remove or carry away, any such timber or other property, he shall be liable to the state in treble damages, if such trespass is adjudged to have been wilful; but double damages only in case the trespass is adjudged to have been casual and involuntary, and shall have no right whatsoever to any remuneration or allowance for labor or expenses incurred in removing such other property, cutting such timber, preparing the same for market, or transporting the same to or towards market.
Whoever cuts or removes, or employs or induces any other person, firm, or corporation to cut or remove, any timber or other property from state lands, contrary to the provisions of this act, or without conforming in each and every respect thereto, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand (1,000) dollars, or by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding two (2) years, or by both, in case the trespass is adjudged to have been wilful.
Whenever any timber so cut is intermingled with any other timber, or whenever other property taken from state lands is intermingled with other property, the state may seize and sell the whole quantity so intermingled, pursuant to the provisions of section forty (40) of this act, and such other timber or property shall be presumed to have been also cut from state lands.
Providing the intermingling of timber above referred to shall only apply to cases having been adjudged as wilful trespass. [Gen. Laws 1895, chap. 163, p. 352.]
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the state 'without a valid and existing permit.' The question in the case revolves around this permit and the extensions of it alleged by plaintiffs in error to have been given.
The findings of the court show the following facts: The state sold at public auction, in accordance with the statute, the timber on the lands to John F. Irwin, one of the plaintiffs in error, acting for himself and as agent of the Shevlin-Carpenter Company, and a permit was issued by the auditor and land commissioners of the state, which contained the following clause: 'That no extension of time of this permit shall be granted except as provided in § 24, chapter 163, General Laws 1895.' The section provides that no permit shall be issued to cover more than two seasons, and no permit shall be extended except by unanimous consent of the board of timber commissioners, and under no circumstances shall an extension be granted for more than one year, and then only for good and sufficient reasons. Irwin gave bond as required by law. On the 7th of May, 1902, the permit was extended until the 1st of June, 1903. At the time the permit was extended, the sum of $1,307, as required by law, was paid by plaintiffs in error into the treasury of the state, that sum being 25 per cent of the appraised value of the timber. In the winter of the years 1903-'4, plaintiffs in error, knowing that there had been one extension of the permit, and that that extension had expired, entered upon the land and cut and removed therefrom 2,444,020 feet of timber, which it was agreed was worth $6 per thousand feet, board measure. After the timber was cut, the surveyor general of the lumber district scaled and returned the amount of the same to the auditor of the state, which officer erroneously computed the amount due from the plaintiffs in error at the contract price of stumpage value thereof, as if the permit were still in force, finding the same to be $18,574.39.
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This amount was paid to the state, and no part of it has been returned.
From these facts the court deduced the conclusion that the permit expired on the 1st of June, 1902, and that the extension thereof expired on the 1st of June, 1903, and that after the latter date it was of no effect and absolutely void, and was known to be so to plaintiffs in error when they cut the timber in controversy, and that their entry upon the lands was in violation of the law. They were adjudged wilful violators of the law, and damages were assessed against them at treble the value of the timber; to wit, $43,992.36. The court, however, decided that a deduction should be made from that sum of $16,997, money paid by plaintiffs in error to the state after the permit had expired. There were other sums of money, with the disposition of which we are not concerned. Judgment was entered against plaintiffs in error for the sum of $26,995.17. The supreme court affirmed the conclusion of the trial court, that the permit had expired, and that the cutting and removing of the timber were illegal, but disagreed with that court as to the character of the trespass. The supreme court said: 'The finding of the trial court that appellant was guilty of a wilful trespass is not sustained by the evidence. On the contrary, the record conclusively shows that appellant had reasonable ground for believing authority had been granted, and honestly acted on such belief.' [102 Minn. 479, 113 N. W. 638.] The court hence decided that the judgment should only have been for double, not treble, damages, saying: 'Being of opinion that in this action the state is limited...
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United States v. Corbin Farm Service, Crim. No. S-77-179.
...be heard to plead in defense good faith or ignorance." United States v. Balint, supra at 302, quoting Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 69, 30 S.Ct. 663, 666, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). In Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 256, 72 S.Ct. 240, 246, 96 L.Ed. 288 (1952), the S......
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McIntosh v. Washington, No. 12073.
...he is either in possession of or dealing with them must be presumed to be aware of the regulation. Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 64-65, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). That is to [T]here are fields in which the dangers are so high and the regulations so prevalent that,......
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Com. v. Barone
...of criminal intent. United States v. Balint, 258 U.S. 250, 42 S.Ct. 301, 66 L.Ed. 604 (1922); Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). See also: Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288 Homicide by vehicle, as I have ob......
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U.S. v. Trent, Case No. 3:07cr196.
...to act under circumstances that should alert the doer to the consequences of his deed. Cf. Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. State of Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 [ (1910) ]; United States v. Balint, 258 U.S. 250, 42 S.Ct. 301, 66 L.Ed. 604 [ (1922) ]; United States v. Dotterwe......
-
United States v. Corbin Farm Service, Crim. No. S-77-179.
...be heard to plead in defense good faith or ignorance." United States v. Balint, supra at 302, quoting Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 69, 30 S.Ct. 663, 666, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). In Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 256, 72 S.Ct. 240, 246, 96 L.Ed. 288 (1952), the S......
-
McIntosh v. Washington, No. 12073.
...he is either in possession of or dealing with them must be presumed to be aware of the regulation. Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 64-65, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). That is to [T]here are fields in which the dangers are so high and the regulations so prevalent that,......
-
Com. v. Barone
...of criminal intent. United States v. Balint, 258 U.S. 250, 42 S.Ct. 301, 66 L.Ed. 604 (1922); Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 (1910). See also: Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288 Homicide by vehicle, as I have ob......
-
U.S. v. Trent, Case No. 3:07cr196.
...to act under circumstances that should alert the doer to the consequences of his deed. Cf. Shevlin-Carpenter Co. v. State of Minnesota, 218 U.S. 57, 30 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed. 930 [ (1910) ]; United States v. Balint, 258 U.S. 250, 42 S.Ct. 301, 66 L.Ed. 604 [ (1922) ]; United States v. Dotterwe......