Opinion

City of Brockton v. Cross

  • 138 Mass. 297
  • 1885 Mass. LEXIS 172
Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Filed
Jan 8, 1885
Status
Published
Author
Holmes
On the bench
Holmes
Cited by
5 cases
Authority
More cited than 78.7%

The opinion

Holmes, J.

Both parties agree that the tribunal to which the first application was duly made acquired exclusive jurisdiction. Miller v. County Commissioners, 119 Mass. 485 . The petition to the Superior Court was filed at ten minutes after eleven in the forenoon of June 4, 1883. The petition to the county commissioners was indorsed by the clerk as filed at twenty minutes after eleven on the same day, or ten minutes later. But the extended record sets forth that it “ was presented to the chairman of the county commissioners in the presence of the full board, at an adjournment of the March term,” at forty-five minutes after ten, with the request that it be filed. The words quoted import a public presentation to the board while in session. The presentation of the petition to the board to whom it was addressed was an application to them for what the petition asked, and the request that the document be filed did not cut down the effect of presenting it. Delay on the part of the board or the clerk in making the proper entries, or an erroneous indorsement by the clerk, cannot affect the petitioner’s rights, as the record discloses the truth. The ruling of the Superior Court was correct.

Petition pending in the Superior Court dismissed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.