93 Iowa 376 | Iowa | 1895
I. The defendant T. H. Jackson was a justice of the peace, and C. B. Jackson was a special constable. A judgment for two dollars and seventy-five cents and costs was entered on the docket of said justice against E. B. Thompson,-plaintiff herein, and in favor of one Nolan. Execution was issued on the judgment, and it was served by C. B. Jackson, as special constable, by levying upon and selling certain hay in stack, the property of the defendant in execution. •This action was brought to recover damages of the defendants, on the ground that the judgment was void for want of jurisdiction to render the same. It is averred in the petition that the hay levied upon was of the value of forty-four dollars, and that the “levy and sale were excessive.” It is also charged in the petition “that said defendants acted in the premises in willful excess and abuse of their authority and of the process of the law, and fraudulently and maliciously and with oppression, and they conspired together in the premises to oppress this plaintiff, and defraud him, and to do damage aforesaid; that the defendants have in their possession the documents, papero, and judgment entry
The first question presented goes to the jurisdiction of this court to entertain the appeal. It is claimed by
II. It appears from the record that the defendant T. H. Jackson was a country justice of the peace in Lost
The District Court instructed the jury upon this question as follows: “As to the defendant T. H. Jackson, you are told that, in the judgment of the court, it appears from the undisputed facts that the said Jackson had no jurisdiction of the person of the defendant in the action wherein P. J. Nolan was plaintiff, and the plaintiff, E. B. Thompson, was defendant; and that he had no jurisdiction to render the judgment of December 10, 1892, against the plaintiff in this case, and that in rendering the said judgment and in issuing
It is a well-established general rule that judges of superior courts and courts of general jurisdiction, when
III. A distinction is sought to be made between the liability of a judge of a court of general jurisdiction and a justice of the peace. It is stated thus in Cooley on Torts (section 419): “It is universally conceded that, when inferior courts or judicial officers act wdthout their jurisdiction, the law can give them no protection. The rule has been held otherwise, however, in cases of judges of superior cour ts where the error has consisted in exceeding their authority.” In section 420 the reason of the distinction is stated thusc “Why the law should protect the one judge, and not the other, and
It is to be remembered that this case is founded on the want of jurisdiction in the justice of the peace, and
Some question is made as to whether any of the assignments of error apply to both of the defendants.
For the error in the instructions above discussed, the judgment of the Distinct Court is reversed.