In re Hall
| Decision Date | 10 May 1897 |
| Docket Number | No. 17,17 |
| Citation | 167 U.S. 38,42 L.Ed. 69,17 S.Ct. 723 |
| Parties | In re HALL |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Edwin Forrest, for petitioner.
Ass't Atty. Gen. Dodge, for respondent.
This is an original application to this court for a writ of mandamus to the judges of the court of claims, commanding them to cause to be entered a judgment in favor of petitioner, and against the District of Columbia, for the sum of $8,644.19, as of March 2, 1897, the date of the filing of a mandate from this court with the court of claims in the case of District of Columbia v. Hall. The record now before us gives the history of that case since it was decided by this court in February last.
The facts in the original litigation out of which this application grows are to be found in the report of the cases of District of Columbia v. Hall, 165 U. S. 340, 17 Sup. Ct. 366, and District of Columbia v. Johnson, 165 U. S. 330, 17 Sup. Ct. 362. It appears therein that this petitioner, under the provisions of the act of congress approved February 13, 1895, had recovered a judgment in the court of claims which was entered June 22, 1896, against the District of Columbia, for the above-named sum or $8,644.19, with a declaration contained in the judgment that such amount became due and payable on the 1st of January, 1877, the effect of which was to grant interest thereon from the last-named date. Upon appeal this court determined that the court of claims erred in the matter of granting interest, and therefore the judgment of that court was reversed and the cause remanded. On the 1st day of March, 1897, the mandate from this court was issued, in which it was The mandate was filed with the court of claims on the 2d day of March, 1897; and, on the opening of the court on that day, application was made for judgment in accordance with the mandate and the opinion of this court, the petitioner waiving any interest on the judgment. This motion was consented to by the attorney representing the District of Columbia, but the court of claims refused to immediately grant the motion, and soon thereafter adjourned to the 8th of March. On the 15th of March the court entered an order declining to take any further proceedings in any suits based on the act of congress, among them being the petitioner's claim,—for the reason that the act had been repealed. The repealing act was enacted one day after the filing of the mandate in this case in the court of claims, and the making of the motion by the petitioner for judgment.
The judges of the court of claims have made return to the order to show cause why the mandamus should not issue, and in that return they state:
'That on the 2d day of March, 1897,—that not being a motion day, according to the practice of said court,—was presented in open court the mandate of the supreme court reversing the judgment in favor of Joseph T. H. Hall, which is described and set forth in the petition, together with a motion for entry of judgment for the sum of $8,664.19; that said motion was presented upon a day when the court was engaged in the regular trial of cases, and, according to the practice of the court, was received without argument, and taken under advisement for decision thereafter; that at or about the same time the attention of the court was called to the pendency of the various motions for new trial from the numerous judgments, embodying the same characteristics which had been held to be erroneous by the supreme court, and on the said 2d day of March, 1897, mandates from the supreme court reversing the three other judgments appealed from as aforesaid, and heard together with that of Joseph T. H. Hall, and in the same form as the mandate set forth in the petition, were filed.
'That on the said 2d day of March, 1897, and before the court, in the ordinary course of its business, had been able to take up for consideration the motion for judgment in favor of said petitioner, or to examine the opinion of the supreme court referred to in the mandate and set forth in the petition, the court adjourned to the 8th day of March, and, while so adjourned, congress enacted and the president approved the act of March 3, 1897, entitled 'An act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, and for other purposes,' which said act contained, amongst other things, the following provision: 'That the act approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, entitled 'An act to amend an act, entitled 'An act to provide for the settlement of all outstanding claims against the District of Columbia, and conferring jurisdiction upon the court of claims to hear the same, and for other purposes,' approved June sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty,' be and the same is hereby repealed, and all proceedings pending shall be vacated and no judgment heretofore rendered in...
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