Jones v. Dearborn
Jones v. Dearborn
Opinion of the Court
This is an action in equity to enjoin the defendant from an alleged unlawful use of the plaintiffs’ land, for obstruction of a right of way across it, and for damages for such unlawful use and obstruction. The defendant ad
As said by Chief Justice Wiswell in Sterling v. Littlefield, 97 Me. 479, 481:
“This court, from the time of its earliest decision upon the subject until the present time, has always adhered to the general rule, that, while, in a proper case, equity will interfere to prevent a threatened and prospective nuisance, it will not take jurisdiction to compel the removal of an alleged nuisance which is already existing, and restrain its continuance, by injunction, until the alleged infringement of the complainant’s rights and the existence of the nuisance resulting therefrom, have first been established in an action at law. To this rule there are undoubtedly various exceptions which have been recognized by the court. The aid of the equity court and its intervention by injunction may be invoked in the case of an existing nuisance, notwithstanding that the right has not been first determined, when the necessity is imperious, or where immediate and irreparable injury is threatened unless relief be given in equity, or where, on account of the necessity of a multiplicity of suits at law, or even for some other sufficient reason, the remedy at law would be inadequate.”
Appeal sustained.
Injunction dissolved.
Bill dismissed without prejudice to the right of the plaintiffs to proceed at law.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Owen E. Jones, Sr. and Elinor B. Jones v. Howard T. Dearborn
- Status
- Published