United States ex rel. Schwerdtfeger v. Brownlow

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
United States ex rel. Schwerdtfeger v. Brownlow, 45 App. D.C. 412 (D.C. Cir. 1916)
1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2705
Orsdel

United States ex rel. Schwerdtfeger v. Brownlow

Opinion of the Court

Mr. Justice Van Orsdel

delivered the opinion of the Court:

Counsel for relator is here seeking' to convert a mandamus proceeding into a writ of error for'the review of the findings of fact of the commissioners. No complaint is made that the commissioners were without jurisdiction, or that relator was not granted a full hearing; but it is asserted that the commissioners erred both as to the ruling made upon the facts, and as to the application of the law thereto-. Without considering either error assigned, it is sufficient to say that in neither case can we grant any relief in this proceeding.

The commissioners are constituted, a quasi judicial body to pass upon the subject of the granting of pensions to firemen. In so doing they are called upon to pass both upon questions of .law and of fact. As suggested, we cannot review their conclusions upon the facts, and the same rule applies to the law where the construction placed upon the statute is a possible one. United States ex rel. Ness v. Fisher, 223 U. S. 683, 56 L. ed. 610, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 356. The construction here placed upon the statute is not only a possible one, but a reasonable, one, which, if called upon to decide, we are not prepared to say is-erroneous. Relief, therefore, cannot be granted through mandamus.

The judgment is affirmed with costs. Affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES EX REL. SCHWERDTFEGER v. BROWNLOW
Status
Published
Syllabus
Municipal Corporations; Eiremen; Officers; Mandamus. 1. Where a municipal board is constituted by statute a quasi judicial body, with power to pass upon the subject of granting pensions to firemen, a court cannot, in a mandamus proceeding, review its findings of fact, nor its construction of the statute conferring jurisdiction upon it, where the construction it has given the statute is a possible one. 2. Mandamus will not lie at the instance of a retired fireman to compel the commissioners of the District of Columbia to place his name upon the pension roll of the fire department and to grant him a pension, where the commissioners, after a hearing accorded the relator,' found that the disease from which he was suffering when he entered the service had been greatly aggravated by his service, but that under the provisions of the Act of Congress of June 11, 1896 (29 Stat. at L. 405, chap. 419), aggravation of an existing disease cannot b& made the basis of a claim for a pension. Note. — On the nature and circumstances of injury as affecting right to share in pension or insurance fund for policemen and firemen, see notes in 20 L.R.A.(NjS.)- 1176, and 50 L.R.A.(N.S.) 1019.