Griffith v. Buie
Griffith v. Buie
Opinion of the Court
The question presented in this proceeding is whether a district judge, after having dissolved a writ of injunction on the face of the pleadings, retains authority to require that the plaintiff in the injunction suit shall furnish an additional bond to secure the defendant against any damages that may be occasioned by the writ of injunction pending a suspensive appeal from the judgment dissolving the writ. By suspensive appeal we mean an appeal that would maintain the injunction in force without compliance with the order to furnish an additional appeal bond.
The proceedings that gave rise to this appeal to our supervisory jurisdiction are set forth in the relators’ petition and in the answer of the respondent judge of the civil district court. The relators, as residents and taxpayers of the parish of St. Tammany, and being therefore interested in the construction and completion of a contemplated highway to be known as the Chef Menteur road, brought suit against the state highway engineer and the president of the board of state engineers, to prevent by injunction the construction of a section of what is known as the Hammond-New Orleans road, without first having constructed and completed the Chef Menteur road and all necessary bridges therefor, or without having first set aside a sufficient amount for the construction of that road out of a fund provided for the construction of both roads. The suit was founded upon section 6 of Act 18 of the extra session of the Legislature of 1918, which statute was' approved as a constitutional amendment in the November election of that year. The section in question reads as follows:
“Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, etc., that the proceeds of the sale of all bonds, notes or certificates of indebtedness issued hereunder shall be used first to pay for the construction and completion of the Chef Menteur road and bridges in the parishes of Orleans and St. Tammany, state of Louisiana, and second, on and after reserving and setting aside the amount necessary to pay for the completion of the Chef Menteur road and for building all necessary bridges therefor, to pay for the construction of the said public highway from Hammond to New Orleans, and the building of all necessary bridges therefor.”
The constitutional amendment provided a fund of $700,000 for the construction of both roads. The relators, as plaintiffs in the injunction suit, prayed for a preliminary writ of injunction, restraining the board of state highway engineers from carrying out a contract entered into with one T. G. Womack, for the expenditure of $59,541.08, plus 10 per cent, for contingencies for the construction of a part of the Hammond-New Orleans road. The petition was presented to Judge Fred D. King, presiding over division B of
“The court adheres to the original order, viz. that the granting of a suspensive appeal in this case is conditioned on the furnishing of an additional injunction bond in the sum of $130,000, as well as an appeal bond in the sum of $200. The suspensive appeal is therefore refused on the furnishing of this bond alone.
“New Orleans, March 23, 1920.
[Signed] H. O. Cage, Judge.”
Thereupon the plaintiffs gave notice of their intention to apply to this court for a writ of mandamus to compel the granting of a suspensive appeal on a bond of $200, and for a writ of prohibition, to prohibit the judge from making the furnishing of the additional injunction bond a condition precedent to the granting of the suspensive appeal.
In answer to the rule to show cause why the relief prayed for by the relators should not be granted, the judge of the civil district Court explains that his reason for requiring that the additional injunction bond should be furnished before the appeal could be taken was that the effect of the appeal would be to take the case out of his jurisdiction, and thereby divest him of authority to increase the injunction bond. Whether the additional injunction bond required by the respondent judge is excessive is not before us for decision. The question presented is whether the judge had the authority to make the furnishing of an additional injunction bond a condition precedent to the granting of a suspensive appeal on a bond for costs.
The effect of the ruling complained of, denying the plaintiffs a suspensive appeal until and unless they should furnish an additional injunction bond, was merely to deny the plaintiffs a right to suspend execution of the judgment in the sense of depriving the district judge of his authority to increase the injunction bond pending the appeal. It may be said that the judge’s order, making the furnishing of an additional injunction bond a condition precedent to the plaintiffs’ right to a suspensive appeal, was not literally correct. But we are dealing not so much with the precise language as with the substance and effect of the order. The meaning of it was that the plaintiffs should not be allowed to suspend execution of the judgment dissolving the writ of injunction, in the sense of depriving the judge of his authority to increase the injunction bond, pending the appeal. It was a wise precaution, and in no manner harmful, for the judge to exercise his authority to increase the injunction bond before allowing the case to be taken out of his jurisdiction by a suspensive appeal.
The alternative writs issued herein are recalled, and the relief prayed for by the relators is denied at their cost.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GRIFFITH v. BUIE, State Highway Engineer In re GRIFFITH
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) 1. Appeal and error Although the only bond required by law for a suspensive appeal from a judgment dissolving a writ of injunction on the face of the papers is one for costs, yet where such- appeal would maintain the status quo and keep the injunction in full force, it was proper for the judge to require an additional bond, where the original injunction bond was insufficient, as a condition precedent to permitting such appeal. 2. Appeal and error A cost bond is sufficient for an appeal from a judgment dissolving a writ of injunction on the face of the papers, as the injunction bond is presumed sufficient, but such reason vanishes when it is found insufficient to protect respondent from such damages as may result from continuance of injunction pending suspensive appeal. 3. Appeal and error (&wkey;447 — Judge has discretion to order an additional injunction bond, on suspensive appeal from the dissolving judgment. A suspensive appeal from a judgment dissolving a writ of injunction on the face of the papers does not deprive the judge of .his discretion to order an additional injunction bond, when necessary to protect the defendant respondent against damages resulting from the injunction’s continuance pending a suspensive appeal. Monroe, O. J., dissenting.