| Me. | Jun 15, 1848
The opinion of the Court, Shefley, Tenney and Wells Justices, was drawn up by
This suit, which is on a note of hand, is defended upon the ground, that the cause of action is already merged in a judgment obtained in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and in support of the' position taken by the defendants, they invoke the constitution of the United States, art. 4, sect. 1, and the act of Congress under the authority thus conferred upon them, of May 26, 1790; 1 U. S. Laws, chap. 38. By the section in the constitution relied upon, “ full faith and credit shall be given in each State, to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.” The act of Congress provides that records and judicial proceedings authenticated as is prescribed therein, “ shall have such faith and credit given to them, in every court within the United
The section of the constitution and the act of Congress, referred to, have been the subject of much discussion in the courts of the United States and in several of the individual States, and the opinions touching the true construction thereof have not in all respects been uniform.
A judgment rendered in the same jurisdiction with the court called upon to enforce it, while unsatisfied and in force, is considered and observed as conclusive proof of the debt, liable to no exception or inquiry. But a foreign judgment, though sufficient evidence of a debt or promise, prima facie, yet it is not incontrovertible proof. Doug. 6. “ If an action of debt be sued on any such judgment, nil debet is the general issue, or if it be made the consideration of a promise, the general issue is non assumpsit.” On these issues the defendant may impeach the justice of the judgment, by evidence relative to that point. On these issues, the defendant may also, by proper evidence, prove that the judgment was rendered by a foreign court, which had no jurisdiction ; and if his evidence be sufficient for the purpose, he has no occasion to impeach the justice of the judgment.” 9 Mass. 462" court="Mass." date_filed="1813-03-15" href="https://app.midpage.ai/document/bissell-v-briggs-6403960?utm_source=webapp" opinion_id="6403960">9 Mass. R. 462.
In the case of Noble v. Gold, decided in the comity of Berkshire, and referred to in 1 Mass. R. 410, which was an action of debt on a judgment recovered in the State of Vermont, and to which the defendant pleaded nil debet, the court held the plea bad on general demurrer, and that by the constitution and laws of United States, the judgments of courts of record of the several States were placed in all respects upon the same footing with our own domestic judgments.
In Bartlett v. Knight, 1 Mass. R. 401, Sewall J. remarks, in giving his opinion, “ that the effect of a judgment, that is, the rights of the party claiming under it, and the liability of the party charged by it, are not enlarged or affected by the constitution or law of the United States,” and he holds that the section cited from the constitution, and the act of Congress pursuant to it, are confined to the sole purpose of directing the
In the year 1813, the subject was again brought before the court in Massachusetts, and an elaborate opinion, drawn by Parsons C. J. was pronounced as the decision of a majority of the court, in which it was held, “ if a court of any State, should render judgment against a man not within the State nor bound by its laws, nor amenable to the jurisdiction of its courts, and if that judgment should be produced in any other State against the defendant, the jurisdiction of the court might be inquired into, and if a want of jurisdiction appeared, no credit would be given to the judgment. In order to entitle the judgment rendered in any court of the United States, to
The doctrines of the case of Bissell v. Briggs, were supposed soon after, to be in conflict in some respects with the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in Mills v. Durgee, 7 Cranch, 481" court="SCOTUS" date_filed="1813-03-11" href="https://app.midpage.ai/document/mills-v-duryee-85029?utm_source=webapp" opinion_id="85029">7 Cranch, 481, and also with Hampton v. McConnel, 3 Wheat., 234" court="SCOTUS" date_filed="1818-02-24" href="https://app.midpage.ai/document/hampton-v-mconnel-85230?utm_source=webapp" opinion_id="85230">3 Wheaton, 234. In Mills v. Durgee, Story, in the opinion of the Court, says, “ In the present case, the defendant had full notice of the suit, for he was arrested and gave bail, and it is beyond all doubt, that the judgment of the Supreme Court of New York was conclusive upon the parties in that State. It must, therefore, be conclusive hero.” This seemed to be understood as giving to judgments of the courts of other States the same effect in all respects, as would be given to them, if they were judgments of the State where they were sought to be enforced ; that is, that they were incontrovertible, as appears from the remarks of the court in the case of the Commonwealth v. Green, 17 Mass. R. 415. But such a conclusion cannot be drawn from the opinion without qualification, as the case was one where the court in New York, which rendered the judgment, had jurisdiction of the parties. Judge Johnson, who dissented from the majority of the Court, did not consider
It is believed, that whenever the question was directly presented for decision in Massachusetts, prior to the separation of this State therefrom, since the case of Bissell v. Briggs, that decision has been regarded as having settled the law on a basis which was not to be shaken. In our own State, the doctrine has been recognized as firmly established. Hall & al. v. Williams, 1 Fairf. 278. In the opinion of the court, delivered by Parris Justice, after supposing the case of a judgment of a court of another State being amended by the same court, by inserting therein as a debtor, the name of a person who neither resided or had any property in that State, who had no notice of the suit, and never submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, remarks, “ could we be called upon to enforce such a judgment against the new party ? Should we listen to the suggestion
Since we became an independent State, the courts of Massachusetts have frequently had before them cases involving the same questions, and they have uniformly adhered to the construction, given to the constitution and the act of 1790, in Bissell v. Briggs, with increased confidence, if possible, in its soundness. In Hall & al. v. Williams & al. 6 Pick. 232, it was held, if notice to or appearance of the plaintiff is not alleged in the record, he may avoid the effect of the judgment, in another State, than that where it was rendered, by showing that he was not within the jurisdiction of the court, and where it appears by the record itself, that there was no appearance and no notice, which he was bound to attend to, the judgment against him is a dead letter beyond the territory in which it was pronounced.
The same subject was before the court in Gleason v. Dodd, adm’r, 4 Metc. 333, and the same doctrine reaffirmed.
In Hitchcock v. Fitch, 1 Cai. Cas., 460" court="N.Y. Sup. Ct." date_filed="1803-11-15" href="https://app.midpage.ai/document/hitchcock--fitch-v-aicken-5463196?utm_source=webapp" opinion_id="5463196">1 Caines, 460, a majority of the court held, that a judgment rendered in another State, upon a regular service of process and by a verdict of a jury, was only pri-ma facie evidence of a debt. Livingston Justice, with one other of the five members of the court, dissented, giving the construction to the constitution and the act of Congress, that such judgments had greater authority in other States than it was believed by the majority, they possessed. He remarks, “ Now no violence is done to my understanding of this article, in saying that it does not embrace a judgment which has been rendered against a party to whom no opportunity was afforded of controverting his adversary’s demand, and who instead of be
By the records of the court of common pleas of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, holden in the county of Middlesex, it appears, that on the 27th day of May, A. D. 1841, a writ issued from the clerk’s office, in that county, in the name of the present plaintiffs against the present defendants, in which the latter are represented to be of Dixmont in the State of Maine, and both late of Worcester in the county, of Worcester, the declaration of which writ was upon the note declared upon in the present suit. On the 29th day of the same May, a deputy sheriff of the county of Worcester returned thereon, that he had attached a chip and summoned each of the defendants to appear at court, by giving a summons to Col. Isaac Davis, their attorney, who did not acknowledge thát he was their general agent, but said he was acting as special attorney for F. A. But-man ; that this was the only service he could make, the defendants having removed from the State when they were minors and not having resided in it since, to the knowledge of the officer, and the house, in which they formerly lived with their father having been taken down, and there being no buildings on the premises. The action was entered at the court to which the writ was made returnable. At the term of the same court, holden in December,' A. D. 1841, it appearing to the court by the suggestion of the plaintiffs, that the defendants were out of the Commonwealth at the time of the service of the writ, it was ordered that further notice be given to the defendants of the pendency of the action, by the publication oi the order in a newspaper in Boston, in the manner set out in the order; and by an affidavit, making also a part of the record,
By the authorities to which reference has been made, the court which rendered the judgment now offered by the defendants, had no jurisdiction over them, and the proceedings are utterly void. If it were otherwise, a person living in one State might be made conclusively liable for claims preferred against him in a court of a State the most distant from his residence, in which he had never been or had property, without notice or any opportunity to be heard in defence. For such an absurdity, it is believed, that few advocates can be found.
But it is insisted, that the party who instituted those proceedings, who sought and obtained that judgment, should not be permitted to impeach it; that they must be bound by it, notwithstanding it may be a nullity against the defendants. In support of this view, the reasoning of the Court in the case of Gleason v. Dodd, adm’r, before referred to, is relied upon, but we think erroneously. That was an action commenced by one Holbrook, who resided in Massachusetts, against Gleason, and after the action was entered in court in this State, the plaintiff died, his death was suggested upon the record, which avers that Dodd, the administrator, came in. After several continuances, a nonsuit was entered, and judgment for costs allowed for the defendant. A suit brought in Massachusetts upon that judgment was defended on the ground, that although Dodd was
A valid judgment is a record of a court, having jurisdiction, which binds both parties. It is a sentence of the law, pronounced by the court upon the matter contained in the record. It is rendered, where the facts are confessed by the parties, and the law determined by the court; where the law is admitted, and the facts are disputed; where both the law and the fact are admitted by the defendant; and where the plaintiff abandons or withdraws his prosecution. 3 Black. Com. 395.
It cannot be a nullity as to one and valid as to the other party. Without jurisdiction, what purports to be a judgment, is not entitled to the name. There is no such thing as a judgment against a party over whom the court had no jurisdiction ; consent of parties alone, can give no jurisdiction; and one taking a judgment of a court, against another not amenable thereto, has obtained nothing which affects him, more than
Default must be entered.