Malony v. Adsit

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Malony v. Adsit
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued October 25–26, 1899
Decided December 4, 1899
Full case nameJohn F. Malony v. Ohlin H. Adsit
Citations 175 U.S. 281 ( more )
20 S. Ct. 115; 44 L. Ed. 163
Prior history Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the District of Alaska
Holding
Trial judge must authenticate a bill of exceptions.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
John M. Harlan  · Horace Gray
David J. Brewer  · Henry B. Brown
George Shiras Jr.  · Edward D. White
Rufus W. Peckham  · Joseph McKenna
Case opinions
Majority Shiras, joined by unanimous

Malony v. Adsit, 175 U.S. 281 (1889), is a United States Supreme Court case involving a land lot in the city of Juneau, Alaska. In resolving the land dispute it was held that a bill of exceptions could only be considered if authenticated by the judge who sat on the trial.

Land lot spatially separated part of the earths surface, which is recorded in the land register on a separate sheet of the Land Register

In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries. Possible owner(s) of a lot can be one or more person(s) or another legal entity, such as a company/corporation, organization, government, or trust. A common form of ownership of a lot is called fee simple in some countries.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Contents

Background

In 1891, O. H. Adsit had been ejected from a land lot he had taken possession of in 1881. In 1896, he filed suit in the district court to recover possession of the tract. Adsit claimed ownership on grounds of prior occupancy and actual possession at the time of the ejectment. The defendant, John Malony, filed a demurrer. He argued that the stated facts did not constitute a sufficient cause of action. The district court held in favor of Adsit, and Malony appealed to the Supreme Court.

Ohlin Harrison Adsit was an Alaskan broker and politician, including Mayor of Juneau, Alaska from 1902 to 1904.

Prior to his appeal, Malony had filed a bill of exceptions in the trial court. This bill allows for either party to state in writing any objections to the decision of the court on a point of law. The object of the bill is to put the question of law on record for the information of the court of error having cognizance of such cause. At the time of the filing, the judge who presided over the trial had been succeeded on the bench, and the new judge allowed and signed the bill.

Opinion of the Court

Justice George Shiras Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court. Malony had filed a bill of exceptions in the trial court which had not been signed by the judge who sat on the trial. Shiras concluded that a bill of exceptions which had not been authenticated by the presiding judge could not be considered by the appellate court. Since Malony's demurrer had been overruled, and the bill of exceptions filed was void, the Court had to rule on the facts as presented by the lower court. The judgment of the district court was affirmed.

George Shiras Jr. United States federal judge

George Shiras Jr. was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who was nominated to the Court by Republican President Benjamin Harrison. At that time, he had 37 years of private legal practice, but had never judged a case. Shiras's only public service before he became a justice was as a federal elector in 1888, almost four years before his nomination in 1892.

Subsequent developments

In 1900, Congress amended the law to allow, in certain cases, for the signature of another judge to suffice as authentication. Section 953 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of June 5, 1900, c. 717, 31 Stat. 270, 28 U.S.C. § 776 (28 USCA § 776). Both Adsit and Delaney later became mayors of Juneau.

United States Congress Legislature of the United States

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the Federal Government of the United States. The legislature consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

<i>United States Reports</i> official record of the rulings, orders, case tables, and other proceedings of the Supreme Court of the United States

The United States Reports are the official record of the rulings, orders, case tables, in alphabetical order both by the name of the petitioner and by the name of the respondent, and other proceedings of the Supreme Court of the United States. United States Reports, once printed and bound, are the final version of court opinions and cannot be changed. Opinions of the court in each case are prepended with a headnote prepared by the Reporter of Decisions, and any concurring or dissenting opinions are published sequentially. The Court's Publication Office oversees the binding and publication of the volumes of United States Reports, although the actual printing, binding, and publication are performed by private firms under contract with the United States Government Publishing Office.

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