Craig v. City of Charleston

Citation180 Ill. 154,54 N.E. 184
PartiesCRAIG v. CITY OF CHARLESTON.
Decision Date17 June 1899
CourtSupreme Court of Illinois

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from appellate court, Third district.

Action by Edward C. Craig against the city of Charleston. A judgment for defendant on demurrer was affirmed by the appellate court (78 Ill. App. 312), and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

James W. Craig, for appellant.

W. E. Adams and Neal & Wiley, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

In affirming the judgment of the circuit court for costs and sustaining the demurrer to the plaintiff's declaration, the following opinion, delivered by Mr. Justice HARKER, was rendered by the appellate court:

‘The sufficiency of the declaration is the only question for our consideration. Stripped of their surplusage, the material averments of fact are that the city of Charleston, on an occasion when a large crowd of people had congregated in the city, appointed one John Apgar as an officer to prevent the obstruction of the streets by vehicles or otherwise, and placed him in control of one of the streets; that Apgar was a dangerous and violent man, and possessed an ungovernable temper and vicious disposition, which facts were known, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence could have been known, to the appointing officer; that Apgar, while in charge of the street and under pretense of discharging his duty, made a brutal and unjustifiable assault upon the plaintiff with a stick, whereby the plaintiff lost one of his eyes, and was otherwise injured. The duties devolving upon Apgar by virtue of his appointment were police duties. He was what is sometimes aptly termed a ‘special policeman,’ authorized to perform certain specific acts. It is a familiar rule of law, supported by a long line of well-considered cases, that a city, in the performance of its police regulations, cannot commit a wrong through its officers in such a way as to render it liable for tort.

‘It is contended, however, that appellant does not base his right of recovery against the city upon the wrongful act of Apgar, merely, but upon the wrongful act of the mayor in appointing such a man as Apgar, when he knew, or should have known, of his dangerous and vicious character.The same principle which absolves the city from liability for Apgar's tortious act applies to the act of the mayor. The mayor was simply exercising a discretion vested in him by virtue of his office and the laws of the state. If the appointment was a wrongful act, which resulted in injury to the...

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22 cases
  • Lerch v. City of Duluth
    • United States
    • Minnesota Supreme Court
    • January 16, 1903
    ...59 Minn. 3; City v. Turner, supra; City v. Williams, 182 Ill. 139; Field v. City, 39 Iowa 575; Blake v. City, 49 Ill.App. 543; Craig v. City, 180 Ill. 154; Cavanagh City, 139 Mass. 426; Spring v. Inhabitants, 137 Mass. 554; Lemon v. City, 134 Mass. 476; Worley v. Inhabitants, 88 Mo. 106; Sa......
  • City of Dallas v. Smith
    • United States
    • Texas Supreme Court
    • July 21, 1937
    ...(Tex.Civ.App.) 34 S.W. (2d) 907; McIlhenney v. City of Wilmington, 127 N.C. 146, 37 S.E. 187, 50 L.R.A. 470; Craig v. City of Charleston, 180 Ill. 154, 54 N.E. 184; McQuillin's Municipal Corporations (2d Ed.) Revised Volume 6, p. 1163, § The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals is reverse......
  • Jackson v. City of Owingsville
    • United States
    • Kentucky Court of Appeals
    • October 19, 1909
    ... ... a special policeman while in the performance of his duties ... Judgment (1898) 78 Ill.App. 312, affirmed.--Craig v. City of ... Charleston, 180 Ill. 154, 54 N.E. 184 ...          [g] ... (Ill. 1899) Where the charter of a city empowered the common ... ...
  • Roumbos v. City of Chicago
    • United States
    • Illinois Supreme Court
    • October 25, 1928
    ...assault made by a police officer under pretense of discharging his duty to prevent the obstruction of the streets (Craig v. City of Charleston, 180 Ill. 154, 54 N. E. 184). The fire department maintained by a municipal corporation is also regarded as belonging to the public or governmental ......
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