Ex Parte Ralston

Supreme Court

Ex Parte Ralston

119 U.S. 613, 7 S. Ct. 317, 30 L. Ed. 506, 1887 U.S. LEXIS 1926

CourtSupreme Court of the United States

DecidedJanuary 10, 1887

StatusPublished

Cited by18 cases

This text of 119 U.S. 613 (Ex Parte Ralston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of the United States primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Ex Parte Ralston, 119 U.S. 613, 7 S. Ct. 317, 30 L. Ed. 506, 1887 U.S. LEXIS 1926 (1887).

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Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Waite

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an application for a writ of mandamus requiring the cleric of- the Supreme Court of the state of Louisiana to transmit to this court a true copy of the record in that court'of á judgment in the suit of the British and American Mortgage Company against Mrs. E. J. Ealston and her. husband, omit- *614 ' ting therefrom certain portions not material to the Federal question involved. From the .showing made it sufficiently appears that the judgment was rendered April 5, 1886, and . that on the 31st of May, 1886, the Chief Justice of the state court allowed a writ of error to this court, “on furnishing bond, with security, according to law, for one thousand dollars, not to operate as a supersedeas.” No writ was, however, issued in fact, but the order of allowance, with the petition therefor,1 . was filed in the office of the clerk of the state court, “ and a demand made on the clerk . . . for a copy of. the record.” According to the statements in the petition, the clerk refused to give-'such a transcript unless it should include everything used on the trial in the state court, but the petitioner wanted : only such parts of the record as were necessary to present the single question of which this court had jurisdiction.

. After the allowance of the writ by the Chief Justice of the. state court, on application of the' petitioner, • Mr. Justice "Woods, the Associate Justice of this court allotted to the Fifth ■ Circuit, made this order, evidently supposing that a writ of error had actually been issued:

£* A writ of error having been allowed in.this case, and a bond given and duly approved, without an allowance of super-sedeas, though the right of supersedeas is claimed. by Mrs. E. J. Kalston, the plaintiff in error, it is ordered that further pro-céedings to enforce executory-process in execution sought to be enforced in this case in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, or in the District Court -from which the case was -appealed to said ..Supreme Court of Louisiana, be suspended-until thó further order of the Supreme Court of the United States.”

. "From this statement it is apparent that we have no authority over the clerk in the matter, about which the. mandamus - is asked. As no writ of error has in fact' been issued, we have no jurisdiction of the suit. Mussina v. Cavazos, 6 Wall. 355, 358; Bondurant v. Watson, 103 U. S. 278. Waiving the question whether the clerk of the state court could issue the writ on ■the allowance of the Chief Justice of that court, which, to say the least, has never yet-been held by this court, McDonogh v. Millaudon, 3 How. 693, it is sufficient to say that he never has *615 done so, and, so. far as this record shows, he has never been asked to do it. Certainly it has been the. prevailing custom from the beginning’ for the clerk of this court, or the clerk of the Circuit Court for the proper district, to issue the writ, and for such a writ to be lodged with the clerk of the state court before he could be called on to make the necessary transcript for use in this court. Consequently, the simple lodging of the allowance with him cannot be considered as a demand for the. writ; and, besides, this proceeding is not to require him to issue the writ, hut to furnish a transcript to be annexed to and returned with the writ, (Rev. Stat. §' 997,) which it is not his duty to give until there is a writ to which it can be annexed and with which it can be returned. The application for the mandamus is consequently denied.

Pending these proceedings for mandamus the British and' American Mortgage Company has filed a motion to vacate the supersedeas allowed by Mr. Justice Woods. But, as no writ of error has ever been issued, that order has no legal effect. A supersedeas cannot be allowed except as an incident to an appeal actually taken or a writ of error actually sued out. We, however, are' as much without jurisdiction to vacate the order of the Justice as he was without jurisdiction to grant- it. Consequently, the motion to- vacate must be denied, although the order as it stands'is of no validity.

Both motions denied. '

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Mr. Chief Justice Waite

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an application for a writ of mandamus requiring the cleric of- the Supreme Court of the state of Louisiana to transmit to this court a true copy of the record in that court'of á judgment in the suit of the British and American Mortgage Company against Mrs. E. J. Ealston and her. husband, omit- *614 ' ting therefrom certain portions not material to the Federal question involved. From the .showing made it sufficiently appears that the judgment was rendered April 5, 1886, and . that on the 31st of May, 1886, the Chief Justice of the state court allowed a writ of error to this court, “on furnishing bond, with security, according to law, for one thousand dollars, not to operate as a supersedeas.” No writ was, however, issued in fact, but the order of allowance, with the petition therefor,1 . was filed in the office of the clerk of the state court, “ and a demand made on the clerk . . . for a copy of. the record.” According to the statements in the petition, the clerk refused to give-'such a transcript unless it should include everything used on the trial in the state court, but the petitioner wanted : only such parts of the record as were necessary to present the single question of which this court had jurisdiction.

. After the allowance of the writ by the Chief Justice of the. state court, on application of the' petitioner, • Mr. Justice "Woods, the Associate Justice of this court allotted to the Fifth ■ Circuit, made this order, evidently supposing that a writ of error had actually been issued:

£* A writ of error having been allowed in.this case, and a bond given and duly approved, without an allowance of super-sedeas, though the right of supersedeas is claimed. by Mrs. E. J. Kalston, the plaintiff in error, it is ordered that further pro-céedings to enforce executory-process in execution sought to be enforced in this case in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, or in the District Court -from which the case was -appealed to said ..Supreme Court of Louisiana, be suspended-until thó further order of the Supreme Court of the United States.”

. "From this statement it is apparent that we have no authority over the clerk in the matter, about which the. mandamus - is asked. As no writ of error has in fact' been issued, we have no jurisdiction of the suit. Mussina v. Cavazos, 6 Wall. 355, 358; Bondurant v. Watson, 103 U. S. 278. Waiving the question whether the clerk of the state court could issue the writ on ■the allowance of the Chief Justice of that court, which, to say the least, has never yet-been held by this court, McDonogh v. Millaudon, 3 How. 693, it is sufficient to say that he never has *615 done so, and, so. far as this record shows, he has never been asked to do it. Certainly it has been the. prevailing custom from the beginning’ for the clerk of this court, or the clerk of the Circuit Court for the proper district, to issue the writ, and for such a writ to be lodged with the clerk of the state court before he could be called on to make the necessary transcript for use in this court. Consequently, the simple lodging of the allowance with him cannot be considered as a demand for the. writ; and, besides, this proceeding is not to require him to issue the writ, hut to furnish a transcript to be annexed to and returned with the writ, (Rev. Stat. §' 997,) which it is not his duty to give until there is a writ to which it can be annexed and with which it can be returned. The application for the mandamus is consequently denied.

Pending these proceedings for mandamus the British and' American Mortgage Company has filed a motion to vacate the supersedeas allowed by Mr. Justice Woods. But, as no writ of error has ever been issued, that order has no legal effect. A supersedeas cannot be allowed except as an incident to an appeal actually taken or a writ of error actually sued out. We, however, are' as much without jurisdiction to vacate the order of the Justice as he was without jurisdiction to grant- it. Consequently, the motion to- vacate must be denied, although the order as it stands'is of no validity.

Both motions denied. '

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Bluebook (online)

119 U.S. 613, 7 S. Ct. 317, 30 L. Ed. 506, 1887 U.S. LEXIS 1926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-ralston-scotus-1887.

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