Sherman v. Eastern & Western Lumber Co.

Washington Supreme Court
Sherman v. Eastern & Western Lumber Co., 56 Wash. 69 (Wash. 1909)
105 P. 166; 1909 Wash. LEXIS 848

Sherman v. Eastern & Western Lumber Co.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam.

Respondent recovered judgment against appellant in the sum of $30, the stipulated value of a steer and a heifer, killed by one of appellant’s trains on its logging road in Cowlitz county. The theory of the appellant is that it is not a railroad, within the meaning of the act of 1903, requiring railroad companies to fence along the right of way, and attempts to raise that question on its appeal to- this court.

The constitution, art. 4, § 4, excepts appellate jurisdiction in this court in all civil actions for the recovery of money only, when the original amount in controversy does not exceed the sum of $200, “unless the action involves the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, municipal fine, or the validity of a statute.” The, judgment demanded in the complaint was $30. The case falls clearly within the constitutional ex*70ception, and not being within any of the provisos, this court is without jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and the same is dismissed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Henry Sherman v. Eastern & Western Lumber Company
Status
Published
Syllabus
Appeal — Decisions Reviewable — Amount in Controversy. An appeal in an action to recover $30 damages, as tbe value of a steer killed on an unfenced logging railroad, raising the question whether the defendant was a railroad, within the act of 1903, does not involve the “validity of a statute,” within Const., art. 4, § 4, limiting the jurisdiction of the supreme court to money demands exceeding $200.