CROSSLEY & ANOTHER
v.
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS & ANOTHER

U.S. | 1883-03-12
108 U.S. 105 Supreme Court of the United States (1883) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 27 L. Ed. 667 · 2 S. Ct. 300 · SCDB 1882-151 · 1883 U.S. LEXIS 1009
Cited by 9 cases

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Synopsis

In this drainage assessment case from Louisiana, property owners sought to enjoin collection of a judgment against their land on two grounds: that nothing remained to be paid and that the judgment had been released by state legislative acts. The Supreme Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction after determining from the lower court's opinion that the Louisiana court had decided the case solely on the non-federal ground that the judgment was not collectible under the law before certain 1876-1877 acts were passed, thus never reaching the federal question presented.

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Opinion of the Court
Mr. Chief Justice Waite

Mr. Chief Justice Waite delivered the opinion of the .court.

The record shows that the defendants’in error sought to enjoin the collection, of a judgment against their property to enforce an assessment under the drainage lays of Louisiana f 1, because under the operation of the laws authorizing the judgment nothing more remained to be paid thereon; and, 2, because the judgment had, in terms, been released and discharged by certain acts of the’ general assembly of the State, passed in 1811 and 1818. If the case was decided below on -the first of these grounds, no federal question is involved.

It was settled long ago that, in cases coming to this court from the Supreme Court of Louisiana, the opinion of the court below, as set out in the record; may be referred to, if necessary, to determine whether the judgment is one we have authority to review. Armstrong v. Treasurer of Athens Co., 16 Pet. 281; Almonester v. Kenton, 9 How. 1; Grand Gulf R. R. and Banking Co. v. Marshall, 12 How. 165; Cousin v. Labatut, 19 How. 202; Murdock v. Memphis, 20 Wall. 590. From the statement of the case and the opinion found in this record, it is manifest the decision was placed entirely on the ground that the judgment was not collectible under the law as it stood before the acts of 1876 and 1877 were'passed. Consequently the case was disposed of before the federal question presented by the pleadings was reached, and that question was not and need not have been decided. Under these circumstances we have no jurisdiction, and the

Motion to dismiss is granted

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Cent. Land Co. v. Laidley, 159 U.S. 103 (U.S. 1895)
  • New Orleans Waterworks Co. v. La. Sugar Ref. Co., 125 U.S. 18 (U.S. 1888)
    …6; February 5, 1867, c. 28, § 2, 14 Stat. 386; Rev. Stat. § 709; Almonester v. Kenton, 9 How. 1, 9; Grand Gulf Railroad v. Marshall, 12 How. 165; Cousin v. Blanc, 19 How. 202; Delmas v. Insurance Co., 14 Wall. 661, 663, 667; Crossley v. New Orleans, 108 U. S. 105; Crescent City Co. v. Butchers’ Union Co., 120 U. S. 141, 146. That opinion, as printed in 35 La. Ann. 1111, and in the record before us, shows that the grounds of the judgment were, that the right conferred by the legislature of the State upon the…
  • Crescent City Live Stock Co. v. Batchers' Union Slaughter-House Co., 120 U.S. 141 (U.S. 1887)
    …; Parks v. Turner, 12 How. 39, 43; Hennen’s Digest, p. 92, No. 3; Cousin v. Blanc's Executors, 19 How. 202; Grand Gulf Railroad and Banking Company v. Marshall, 12 How. 165; Murdock v. City of Memphis, 20 Wall. 590 ; Crossley v. City of New Orleans, 108 U. S. 105; Caperton v. Bowyer, 14 Wall. 216. It must, therefore, be conceded that the sole question to be ' determined is, Did the Supreme Court of Louisiana, in deciding against the plaintiffs in error, give proper effect to the decree of the Circuit Court…

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