Moulton v. Cornish
Moulton v. Cornish
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The liability of the plaintiff for the damages, as well as that
The authority to grant a restraining order before the hearing of a motion for an interlocutory injunction is conferred by sec. 718, Rev. Stat. U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 580. The distinction between such a restraining order and an interlocutory or temporary injunction is thus pointed out in a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States: “Under this section, originally passed June 1, 1872 (17 Stat. at L. 196, 197, chap. 255, § 7), a restraining order with features distinguishing it from an interlocutory injunction was introduced into the statutory law. In the prior act of Congress of March 3, 1793 (1 Stat. at L. 334, 335, chap. 22), it was provided in sec. 5: ‘Nor shall a writ of injunction be granted in any case without reasonable previous notice to the adverse party or his attorney of the time and place of moving for the same.’ By force of sec. 718 a judge may grant a restraining order in case it appears to him that there is danger of irreparable injury, to be in force ‘until the decision upon the motion’ for temporary injunction. Thus, by its very terms the section (718) does not deal with temporary injunctions, concerning which power is given in other sections of the statutes, but is intended to give power to preserve the status quo, when there is danger of irreparable injury from delay in giving the notice required by equity rule 55, governing the issue of injunctions. While the statutory restraining order is a species of temporary injunction, it is only authorized, as sec. 718 imports by its terms, until the pending motion for a temporary injunction can be heard and decided.” Houghton v. Meyer (Houghton v. Cortelyou) 208 U. S. 149, 155, 52 L. ed. 432, 434, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 234.
In accordance with the doctrine enounced, it must be held that the undertaking entered into in compliance with the restraining order had fully performed its office when the order of June 13, 1905, was entered. The defendant having had notice and having answered the bill, the substantial object of that
To protect' himself against further probable injury, when the second order was entered, the defendant should have asked that a new undertaking be entered into. Probably, by consent of the parties to the suit, the original undertaking might have been continued in force for all the purposes of the temporary injunction, but this could not be done without the express consent of the surety therein. There was no such express consent by the' principal, much less by the surety.
Notwithstanding the injury which the appellee has suffered through regarding the original undertaking as in force during the pendency of the suit, we are compelled by the decision in
It will, therefore, be reversed with costs, and the cause remanded in order that it may be ascertained what damages, if any, were occasioned by the operation of the restraining order until June 13, 1905. Reversed.
Reference
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- MOULTON v. CORNISH
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- Syllabus
- Principal and Surety; Bonds; Equity; Temporary Restraining Orders. . 1. The liability of the principal and surety in a bond is measured by the bond itself, and neither can be bound beyond its terms and legal effect. 2. While the temporary restraining order provided for by sec. 718, U. S. Rev. Stat. U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 580, is a species of temporary injunction, it may, unlike the latter, be made without notice to the opposite party, where there is danger of irreparable injury, and it is only authorized to continue until the pending motion for a temporary injunction can be heard and decided. 3. Where, in an equity suit, an order was made on the filing of the bill, and without notice to the defendant, restraining the defendant, as prayed, until “further hearing, if any,” to be had on a day named, of which the defendant was required to take notice, conditioned upon the filing by the complainant of an undertaking to indemnify the defendant, and such an undertaking was given, and, upon the coming in of the answer of the defendant, with a motion by him to dissolve the restraining order, the court denied the motion, and continued the restraining order in force until the final hearing, when the bill was dismissed, and a decree entered against the complainant and his surety on the undertaking for damages sustained by the defendant for the wrongful issue of the injunction, it was held, reversing the decree so far as it awarded damages, that the undertaking had fully performed its office when the order overruling the motion to dissolve was made, and liability under it then terminated, and defendant could only recover upon it the damages he sustained up to that date. 4. While probably by consent of the parties to the suit, an undertaking given upon the suing out of a restraining order may be continued in force for all the purposes of a temporary injunction granted upon the hearing of a motion to dissolve the restraining order, this cannot be done without express consent of the surety.