Moseley v. People

Appellate Court of Illinois

Moseley v. People

101 Ill. App. 564, 1902 Ill. App. LEXIS 663

CourtAppellate Court of Illinois

DecidedApril 18, 1902

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 101 Ill. App. 564 (Moseley v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Moseley v. People, 101 Ill. App. 564, 1902 Ill. App. LEXIS 663 (Ill. Ct. App. 1902).

Pincite

Opinion

Mr. Justice Waterman

delivered the opinion of the court.

The Circuit Court, neither in the decree out of which the contempt proceedings grew nor subsequently, found that it was within the power of appellant to comply with the decree or any portion thereof.

Appellant has been fined $500 and ordered to be committed to jail, not for anything that he has done, but for a failure to do that which his answer to the rule shows he can not do.

This is not an appeal from the decree; that stands and can be enforced like other decrees for the surrender or transfer of personal property.

A party can not be declared in contempt for the mere failure to comply with a decree or judgment of court.

Contempt is willful and can not arise from mere inability. O’Callaghan v. O’Callaghan, 69 Ill. 554; Dinet v. People, 73 Ill. 183; Rapalje on Contempts, Sec. 137.

One, indeed, might be guilty of contempt if he willfully placed himself in a position where he was unable to obey a decree,- but nothing of the kind appears in this case.

The answer of appellant, if true, shows that he was not guilty of contempt in failing to comply with the decree of court.

The order of the Circuit Court is reversed.

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