Shuler v. Raton Waterworks Co.

247 F. 634, 160 C.C.A. 44, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 1699
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 24, 1917
DocketNos. 4634, 4850
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 247 F. 634 (Shuler v. Raton Waterworks Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shuler v. Raton Waterworks Co., 247 F. 634, 160 C.C.A. 44, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 1699 (8th Cir. 1917).

Opinion

CARLAND, Circuit Judge.

[1] This case is here by writ of error (4634) and appeal (4850). The appeal was taken October 16, 1916, from a judgment in contempt proceedings entered August 30, 1915. It thus appears that the appeal was not taken within the time allowed by law (Act March 3, 1891, § 11, 26 Stat. 829 [Comp. St. 1916, § 1647]) and must be dismissed.

There is a motion to dismiss the writ of error for the following reasons: (1) The judgment in contempt was an interlocutory order, and part of the record in the main case, and not revicwable prior to the final decree therein. (2) This court lias no jurisdiction to'review the judgment in contempt by writ of error, for the reason that said judgment was entered in an equity suit and is only reviewable by appeal.

[2] The second point made has no merit, as section 4 of the act of September 6, 1916 (section 1649a, Comp. St. 1916, 39 Stat. 727), prohibits the dismissal of the writ for the reason urged. Section 7 of the act referred to provides that the same shall not apply to any writ of error theretofore duly applied for; but it is manifest that said section 7 is a saving clause against other provisions of the act and has no effect upon section 4.

In considering point 1 it will be necessary to describe to some extent the action in which the judgment in contempt was entered.

[3] The Raton Waterworks Company commenced an action in equity in the court below to enjoin the city of Raton, N. M., from furnishing water to any of its citizens from a waterworks system which the city had constructed. The city of Raton in its corporate name was the only party sued. The plaintiffs in error, viz. J. J. Shuler, mayor; Floyd Hayner, clerk; William T. Huffine, A. V. Lucero, Henry Boan, Edwin B. Humphrey, Henry C. Jones, and Abe Garcia, aldermen; and Howard L. Bickley, James II. Pershing, and John R. Fry, attor[636]*636neys—were not parties to the action, and the judgment in contempt imposed fines ranging from $50 to $100 each upon thfem for disobeying a temporary injunction issued in said action; the plaintiffs in error to-stand committed in default of payment thereof. The judgment further provided that the fines should be. paid to the Waterworks Company, as damages. Not being parties to the suit, plaintiffs in error could not have appealed from the final decree in the main case. The judgment in contempt affected them personally and was final. Bessette v. W. B. Conkey, 194 U. S. 324, 24 Sup. Ct. 665, 48 L. Ed. 997; Alexandria v. United States, 201 U. S. 117, 26 Sup. Ct. 356, 50 L. Ed. 686; Nelson v. United States, 201 U. S. 92, 26 Sup. Ct. 358, 50 L. Ed. 673. The motion to dismiss the writ of error must therefore be denied. The remaining question to-be considered is: Were the plaintiffs in error guilty of contempt?

[4, 5] As before stated the prayer of the complaint asked for a temporary injunction, to be made permanent on final decree, restraining the defendant, its officers, agents, employés, and attorneys from, permitting or authorizing any of the inhabitants or citizens of the city of Raton to connect their water pipes with the mains of said city, or from supplying any of said citizens or inhabitants with water from the said water mains, either under contract to pay therefor, or gratuitously or otherwise, until the further order of the court in the premises, or from using water from the city waterworks system for fire or hydrant purposes, or any other municipal purpose, and from operating or using said waterworks system in any manner until the further order, of the court in the premises. This was all the relief asked for, except that there was a prayer for general relief, but such prayer has no im-. portance in the matter now under discussion. The complaint was filed July 2, 1915. On the same day an order was issued requiring the plaintiffs in error to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not issue restraining them during the pendency of the action as prayed in the complaint. A temporary restraining order was made a part of the order to show cause. It reads as follows:

“And until the hearing and final determination of this motion, and the further order of the court in the premises, the said defendant, the city of Raton, its officers, agents, servants, and attorneys, are hereby restrained and enjoined from supplying any of the citizens or inhabitants of the said city of Raton with water from the water mains of the defendant, either under contract to pay therefor, or gratuitously or otherwise, and from using water from its waterworks system for fire hydrant purposes or any other municipal purposes, and from permitting or authorizing any of the inhabitants or citizens of the said city of Raton to connect their water pipes with mains of the defendant in the city of Raton, and from operating or using its waterworks system in any manner whatsoever; this temporary restraining order not to become effective until plaintiff shall have filed a good and sufficient injunction bond to-be approved by the clerk in the sum of, $5,000 protecting defendant against damages pending the hearing.”

On July 31, 1915, after the order to show cause had been heard, the court made the following order:

“This cause having been heretofore submitted upon plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction, it is ordered that the said motion be granted and that said temporary injunction be granted as prayed, upon an injunction bond in [637]*637the sum of ¡pió,000 to be filed with the clerk within five days and to be approved by him, the temporary restraining order heretofore granted to continuo meanwhile in force; to which ruling the respective parties duly excepted.”

On August 25, 1915, defendant in error filed a petition for an order requiring the plaintiffs in error to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt for disobeying the injunction. No temporary injunction was ever in fact issued, except the restraining order made a part of the order to show cause. On the hearing of the order to show cause a temporary injunction was granted as prayed, the temporary restraining order to continue in force in the meantime. The order granting the temporary injunction contemplated that the writ should issue within five days, as the injunction bond was to be filed within that time, so it is doubtful whether the restraining order was in force after the period of five days, that being the meantime above mentioned. But, be that as it may, the injunction granted, if any, was in accordance with the prayer of the complaint, the language of which the temporary restraining order literally followed. Assuming, therefore, that there was actually or constructively some kind of an injunction in force, we proceed to ascertain what plaintiffs in error did for which they were punished.

On August 30, 1915, the court found plaintiffs in error guilty of contempt on the allegations in defendant in error’s petition, which the court found were admitted by plaintiffs in error in their answer to the same. The petition covers 46 pages of the printed record and only its substance can be stated.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
247 F. 634, 160 C.C.A. 44, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 1699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shuler-v-raton-waterworks-co-ca8-1917.