United States v. Coudert
Opinion of the Court
Charles Coudert, as ancillary executor oí Rafael Madrazo, brought a petition against the United States in the circuit court of the United States for the Southern district of New York, under the act of March 3, 188T (24 Stat. 505), known as the "Tucker Act,” to recover a sum of money alleged to be due to the testator’s estate from the United States. The writ of error to this court was brought to review the judgment of the circuit court in favor of the petitioner.
The following statement of the facts, upon which the claim was based, is admitted to be substantially correct: In November, 1863, the United Slates vessel Granite City seized the Spanish bark Teresita, then the property of Rafael Madrazo, in the Gulf of Mexico, as a blockade runner, and brought the Teresita to New Orleans for condemnation for alleged violation of the blockade by the military and naval power of the United States over the entrance to the Rio Grande river. Legal proceedings for condemnation and forfeiture of the vessel as a prize were duly begun in the district court for
It manifestly appears that the questions were so presented to the circuit court that the disposition of the case was considered to be a matter of routine. The theory of the petitioner is that, inasmuch as the final decree in the prize case directed the government to make restitution of the Teresita and her cargo, and as the decree has not been fully complied with, a claim sounding in contract has arisen out of said decree in favor of the decedent and his ('State against the government. This theory omits consideration of the facts that the vessel and her cargo were sold by order of the district court, that the proceeds of such sale remained subject to its order in lieu of the vessel and cargo, that the fund was not deposited in the treasury of the United States, and that the government is not responsible for its diminution. A similar claim against the United States, arising out of the failure of a bank in which the proceeds from the
The petitioner insists that no writ of error lies lo this court from the judgment of the circuit court in an action brought against the government of the United títates under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1887. it was settled in U. S. v. Davis, 131 U. S. 36, 9 Sup. Cf. 657, that an appeal or writ of error lay to tlie supreme court from a judgment against the United States rendered under (he jurisdiction conferred upon district: or circuit courts by that act; and the contention of tint petitioner is that, as the Tucker act alone furnishes the district or circuit courts with jurisdiction to entertain actions against the United Stales, it alone controls the right of aplica! or review. The act of March 3, 1891, was intended to be a comprehensive Matute, which should regulate the jurisdiction of Use supreme court by appeal or writ of error from the district and circuit comía, The fifth section provides six classes of cases in which appeals or writs of error may be taken directly io the supremo court from those courts, and which do not include eases arising therein under the act of March 3, 1887; section (i provides that the circuit courts of appeals shad exercise appellate jurisdiction to review final decisions in the district and existing circuit courts in all cases oilier than those provided in the fifth section, unless otherwise provided by law; and section 1-4 provides ihal Mill acts and parts oí acts relating to appeals or writs of error inconsistent with the provisions for review by appeals or writs of error in the preceding sections five and ¡six of this act” are repealed. The supreme court, in Lau Ow Bew v. U. S., 144 U. S. 47. 12 Sup. Ct. 517, has shown that the words of sect ion 6, "unlem otherwise provided by law,” were not intended to limit ¡he effect of the general repealing-provisions, of section 34, but “were manifestly inserted out 'of abundant-caution, in order that any qualification of the jurisdiction by contemporaneous or subsequent acts should not be construed as taking it away, except when expressly so provided. Implied repeals were intended to be thereby guarded against. To hold that the words referred to prior laws would defeat (lie purpose of the act, and be inconsistent with its context and its repealing clause.” Immediately after the passage of the act of March 3, 1891. some uncertainty existed in the minds of learned counsel as to which court an appeal
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES v. COUDERT
- Status
- Published